Get your Guns Up!

Well, here we are. Back in the hospital on the eve of surgery. I have spent the day talking with the doctors and surgical team, my "A" team if you will. I am in good hands with the neurosurgery team here at UMC and despite the news I am feeling very optimistic that all will go well with the surgery. They still have not diagnosed specifics on the mass, but Dr. Baronia suspects it is likely a tumor of some sort based on the presentation with my MRI. We won't know specifics on whether it is benign or malignant until they biopsy the tissue during surgery.

I had to be taken down for another round of CT scans and a Stealth MRI to map my brain for the surgery. This makes 3 CTs and 2 MRIs in a matter of a few days. I have been poked and prodded beyond belief to the extent that I look like a heroine addict (I assure you I am not). I've annoyed the nurses with my continual laps around the entire 3rd floor of the hospital and somehow escaped the yellow "fall precaution" wrist band this time around. They have padded my bed rails and labeled me as a seizure precaution even though I'm loaded up on keppra twice a day.

The craniotomy will take place in the morning. I will be the first case to go in and I will have to be awake for a portion of the surgery. My resident physician Dr. Murphree and Nurse Practitioner Joey helped me plan out my music playlist and pre-surgery preparations. I will not have to be intubated and they will keep me on light anesthetic for a good chunk of the procedure. Depending on what they find when they get in there, the surgery could potentially take up to 5 1/2 hours to complete.

I am ready to put up a fight and I refuse to let this tumor define me. I'm a fighter by nature and this is my opportunity to spread my wings and show what I'm really made of.