About a week before Christmas we received great news with another follow-up appointment resulting in clear MRIs. On the drive home I thought a lot about the fact it’s been almost 3 ½ years since my diagnosis and surgery. It’s kind of hard to believe in certain respects. It feels like it happened 10 years ago.
The cavity created by the tumor resection is at the bottom right corner (actually the left side of my brain) of the cover image for this post (also included below). During almost every follow-up appointment I've had, the medical team members have remarked about how “beautiful” or "incredible" or “impressive” the cavity area is. They give a lot of due credit to my neurosurgeon, who was indeed fantastic. It is a weird experience to have people truly geeking out about a hole in your brain, but it’s also reassuring to know that all the medical experts to date agree my surgery went exceedingly well.
Imaging from a 12/15/22 Follow-Up Appointment
Until this recent appointment, it had been two years since I actually looked at the imaging. Usually, once they tell me the scan is clear, I am ready to hit the road home and tell them I don’t need to see it. The cavity looks smaller than I remembered. The tumor was comparable to the size of a grape, but when they resected it the surgeon’s goal was to safely remove more matter than just the tumor as there were/are likely cancerous cells that cannot be identified via MRI. So the cavity is a bit larger than the tumor was. I am lucky to not have any lasting cognitive deficits or physical impairments from the procedure. I'm super thankful for that outcome.
It was great to get this news before the holidays. Scheduling these appointments can be tricky. I am always due for a follow-up appointment during the summer and in December, so the question becomes should we schedule the appointment for before or after the holidays or vacation? We usually opt to schedule the appointments before the planned event anticipating good news which allows us all to really relax and enjoy ourselves afterward, like we did after this recent appointment.
It’s great to start 2023 on the heels of clear scans. We’re looking forward to what this year has in store for all of us.
I hope you all have a great one!
Nick
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