Hello From 1056
Resting in my hotel room.
It has been two days since the tumor was evicted from my brain.
Everything went smoothly.
The neurosurgeon said he got about 95% of the tumor, though a follow-up MRI will confirm this. The surgery was projected to take 10 to 12 hours. I went back to the surgical room at 8 o'clock in the morning, and woke up around 6 p.m. So things seem to have gone well.
The last thing I remember was the anesthesiologist saying “We're going to put you to sleep now.” And then—I woke up, and that was it. Which is more than I can say for the people who had to wait that entire stretch of time.
I'm so grateful for the entire neurosurgery team. They were all amazing. Even as I lay in the OR with tears streaming down my face because I was so scared, the Fellow told me, "It seems like a big surgery to you, but we do this all the time. We know what we're doing.”
That was very reassuring in the few moments before surgery started.
I’m in a lot of pain, which is to be expected. Trying to get up and move around, while also trying to rest.
I came up with a mantra as I was waiting for a head CT post surgery: “Every hour is a little better, and every day will be a lot better.”
Originally they expected that I’ll be in the hospital for five days—if that's true, every day should be about 20% better.
So progress each day.