Maybe I forgot to mention the name of my brain surgeon. It's Doctor House. No joke, that's his real name. It always makes people laugh when I tell them that. He doesn't seem nearly as heartless or sarcastic as the t.v. character. In fact his bedside manner and professionalism make him not at all like the t.v. character.
We are proceeding to surgery without the WADA test. I was wondering why that is and I asked my neurosurgeon's nurse practitioner. She told me it isn't necessary since they already know exactly where they are going in my brain and they won't mess with the areas that could involve speech. The WADA test is typically done prior to brain surgeries partially to verify which side of the brain involves speech. If the wrong areas are damaged a person could be unable to speak or even understand written or spoken words. What a scary prospect that would be. It is assuring knowing that they won't mess with that area, even though my speech is likely on the left and they are operating on the right side of my brain.
Being a pianist and violinist, I am wondering what affect the surgery will have on my playing abilities. I would be interested to find other musicians that have had a right medial temporal lobectomy. At this point I am willing to proceed to surgery even at risk of harming my musical abilities. It just wouldn't make sense not to cut out what is likely a low grade glioma. The risks of leaving it intact would be too great.
My family has decided to celebrate Christmas early this year, since I will get out of the hospital only a few days before Christmas and probably not in any shape to enjoy the holidays. When I had my colectomy in 2007, I specifically waited until after the holidays to schedule surgery, but ulcerative colitis was more of a great inconvenience, and not cancerous.
I am anxious to return to work as soon as possible after surgery. With any luck I could be seizure free the rest of my life. Wouldn't it be nice to make more money next year than I ever have before, and not have to spend much of it on medical bills?
We are proceeding to surgery without the WADA test. I was wondering why that is and I asked my neurosurgeon's nurse practitioner. She told me it isn't necessary since they already know exactly where they are going in my brain and they won't mess with the areas that could involve speech. The WADA test is typically done prior to brain surgeries partially to verify which side of the brain involves speech. If the wrong areas are damaged a person could be unable to speak or even understand written or spoken words. What a scary prospect that would be. It is assuring knowing that they won't mess with that area, even though my speech is likely on the left and they are operating on the right side of my brain.
Being a pianist and violinist, I am wondering what affect the surgery will have on my playing abilities. I would be interested to find other musicians that have had a right medial temporal lobectomy. At this point I am willing to proceed to surgery even at risk of harming my musical abilities. It just wouldn't make sense not to cut out what is likely a low grade glioma. The risks of leaving it intact would be too great.
My family has decided to celebrate Christmas early this year, since I will get out of the hospital only a few days before Christmas and probably not in any shape to enjoy the holidays. When I had my colectomy in 2007, I specifically waited until after the holidays to schedule surgery, but ulcerative colitis was more of a great inconvenience, and not cancerous.
I am anxious to return to work as soon as possible after surgery. With any luck I could be seizure free the rest of my life. Wouldn't it be nice to make more money next year than I ever have before, and not have to spend much of it on medical bills?
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