Brain surgery for me Thursday

[Cindy H.]

I will have a craniotomy Thursday to remove a 3cm fluid filled tumor in my cerebellum. Two weeks later I will have gamma knife on the 2 smaller tumors. I feel good about this procedure. They will have to delay my Abraxane (too bad) for about a month. I'm looking forward to taking 2 weeks of work!!

[Fontaine]

Hey, this will give you a good excuse to do some research on brain physiology, which is utterly fascinating! I didn't know just how much until I started a course in cognitive psych--part of which is psychoneurobiology. Way cool! ;-)

Only two weeks off from work? Either you've got a much nicer job than I do (less stressful environment and more support) or you've got a heck of a lot stronger constitution--physical and emotional! I'm only Stage I (but for the second time so technically not a metastisis) but am on disability. No way I can cope with the stress of work, all the unending, stressful paperwork, and deal w/ treatment, too. But then I'm also bi-polar II (the "mild" kind) and very probably ADD. Stress and my body don't get along at all well, nor do bi-polar disorder and ADD get along w/ a work environment!

With that kind of positive attitude, sure you'll do great. I'm becoming more and more convinced that attitude and deep-seeded belief, including faith, plays a critical role in survival, not to mention quality of life.

You go, girl!

[StephN]

Cindy -
I will be sending best wishes for an easy day and for the surgeons hands on Thursday. You can just dream about all the nice days you just had in France to take your mind off things.
And, as Fontaine says, there is a host of new reading if you want to find out more about how your brain works! The Decadron will rev you up and you will want to do all kinds of things ... especially at 4 am.

[jojo]

Hi Cindy,

I am probably the only one on the board that has had brain surgery very recently. I had a craniotomy, plus brachytherapy 2 months ago. I recovered very well.

If your lesion location is similar to mine, you will probably wake up from surgery, feeling like you have just come out of neck operation, not brain! I dealt with a stiff neck for a few days. And NO headaches! :-)

I kind of surprised my family with how I was behaving post-surgery. They were more or less expecting me to walk funny, or lose balance, or whatsoever. If you saw me there, you would never guess that I'd had just come out of brain surgery.

I probably have to give a thumbs-up to my neurosurgeon, though, for doing such a job. After my hospital had already scheduled my brain surgery, my chemo nurses then told me that the neurosurgeon is considered the top 3rd best neurosurgeon in the country. I absolutely had no previous idea; I never bothered to research for a confirmation of this report, though.

Small warning: They will more likely ban you from driving for 2 or 3 weeks, post-surgery, just in caution of any possible seizures. What a loss of freedom! :-( I was so fidgety at home that I even snuck out for a couple of drives! My husband called me: "you bad dog!" but he could not declare that without demonstrating a smirk on his face. :-)

You will be on ultra-high warp speed while on decadron (most hated drug to me!). You will be creative how to kill your free time, when not being able to sleep at night-time!!

Cindy, please do feel free to shoot me any questions or comments.

Godspeed! Hugs ~ JO.

[Cindy H.]

The surgeon backed me off the decadron from 16mg/day to 4.5/day....I was starting to go nuts!!!!! I can feel the difference already. Bloodwork showed an elevated glucose level of 230......so I see another doc about that today. I do have diabetes in the family, but my suspicion is that the steroids and chemo have had an effect on my ability to regulate insulin. I have an excellent diet and exercise regularly. I shaved my head last night....ahhhhhhhhhhhh, feels good! Two weeks on steroids also shot my blood pressure to 130/110, it was always normal before.

[jojo]

Decadron also lowers your immunity to bacteria. This is how I got walking pnuemonia while taking on Decadron.

I am surprised that your surgeon would let you go as log as 4.5mg / daily. For my brain surgery, they would not allow me to go as low as that. I was on 16mg / daily during recuperation, then went down to 12 mg / daily when I got discharged. I no longer take this, but I hope that I won't have to need this again in the next 3 months for any possibility of edema inducing by radiation seeds, NOT surgery itself.

Cindy, you will be in good hands tmw. Rooting for you! :-)