The BIG Surgery Day is Here, Am I Sure I’m Not Dreaming I Cancer Blog
We arrived early at the hospital for check-in. More blood work, vitals and another mini-MRI.
They were doing an open craniotomy. I would be awake just enough to feel some small electric shock waves sent to my right side. Would I know what was going on? Maybe, I might even remember this after surgery, but probably not. Not!
The tumor was in the left side of my brain, actually in the central nervous system, which controlled the movement in my right side. How many people really understand that the right side controls the left and the left side controls the right? The procedure would allow me to move my right arm/hand/leg/foot so they could see if they were removing the tumor or part of the actual brain. A tumor will disguise itself to look just like the brain making it difficult to determine between the two. Well, let’s make sure we get that right. My husband will be the first to say I’m not the smartest apple that fell off the tree. He even mentioned to the doctor that being a blonde and all, since he was going to be working up there anyway, could he possibly add something else? You will find that he is the jokester of the family and we definitely needed some of that right now.
They had me finish getting ready and would allow my family to visit. Wow, family, friends, our pastor. Having told everyone early allowed many to make arrangements to be there. I think this helped make the time pass easier for my husband and kids.
The surgery went well. The doctor thought they were able to remove it all and it looked benign, but they would send it off to the lab to make sure.
I was taken to the Neurology ICU where I would be for the next 48 hours and once settled they all went to get something to eat. When they returned my daughter noticed a piece of paper on the table with some writing on it, seizure? The nurse had notified the doctor and not to worry. They had put me on medication before the surgery to try to relieve some of the pressure already on the brain from the tumor. As the doctor explained at the office visit before surgery, the brain is a forgiving organ, the tumor is growing and there is not any extra room, it will forgive and forgive, but will eventually say enough!
I vaguely remember a lot from those first few days. Different nurses, doctors, friends, but my family was always there. My husband was trying to juggle work and hospital time and I know he worried the whole time he was not there. My daughters work gave her a work from home leave, so she brought her computer and worked from my room. Wow, has modern technology come along ways. This meant a lot, more than I can ever say.
