Doc appointment went well, ND tomorrow!...

I saw one of my surgeons today. He's a really good guy, genuinely cares, and answers all of my questions, no matter how haphazard or long-winded they are, and without making me feel stupid for asking something that's maybe not terribly relevant. His assistant is super nice, too, and we got to talk for a few minutes. It's always good to feel listened to and cared for by doctors. A healthy detachment is fine, but that doesn't mean that they should be aloof. Knowing that they all care (and pretty much all of my regular docs are cool this way) really helps to put me at ease with my situation. I feel that they're doing all that they can to help me, and when they can't, they help me find others who can.


We went over the MRI from last week and the overall tumor situation. Everything is stable. If the tumors have grown, it's not by much. It's hard to be exactly precise because each scan has slightly different images. There's nothing drastically different. The chiari malformation was specifically looked at. All the fluids seem to be flowing nicely, but my cerebellum does definitely hang down a bit lower than normal (which is what a chiari malformation is). It's possible that this contributes to my troubled throat function, but it's more likely that the tumor affects the cranial nerve that controls that. There is a surgery to help correct the malformation, and my surgeon will confer with my neurologist about it, but, at this point, it looks like we'll just keep an eye on it. The surgery basically entails reshaping my skull a bit at the base to alleviate any pressure on the cerebellum. While it is a big deal, and has its risks, it maybe seems a bit scarier than it sounds because it involves my skull and brain and all that.

After the appointment, my mom drove me to pick up a pizza from Papa Murphy's for tonight. They make the pizza, then you take it home and actually bake it. Because of that, I was able to use my food stamps to buy it, which worked out for me. It feels good to contribute a little, especially when I'm being treated to the game. After getting the pizza (sausage and pepperoni is what they wanted...add mushrooms, and that's my usual order, so it works out), I got a few things at the grocery store. Being financially challenged (or, more bluntly, being all but broke), I'm planning on packing a lunch to take with me. I'll just make a couple turkey sandwiches and bring some chips and carrots to go with those. Next up was a little lunch from McDonald's dollar menu, to go, then home.

I still have a few things to get together before I get picked up tonight. I'll round up my meds, clothes, toiletries,  and the food, and I'll shower here in a little while, too. Then I'll get picked up tonight. We'll eat, maybe watch a movie and/or play a couple games for a bit. We'll be heading out of here at 7AM, so we should get to campus by 11AM. Hopefully the traffic isn't too bad and we arrive a little earlier. I haven't been on campus since 2002, and there are lots of new buildings that I want to check out. I'll be working on a to do list and a map here shortly. I'm hoping to meet some friends who'll be up for the game, too. So far, I've arranged to see one. We'll be in front of Sorin, my old dorm, at 12:45PM just before the band plays at Bond Hall (which was usually my wake up call as a student as it's just behind the dorm). The plan is to get to the Stadium around 1:45PM for the 2:30PM start. Well, TV coverage starts at 2:30PM, the actual kickoff won't be until about 2:45PM or so.

I'm really excited to be going back. It's been way too long. It's just been tough being sick and broke and all that. I can't believe it's been 8 years. It'll be nice to reconnect a bit. It's a special place, surely to me, and it's been a big part of my life. I'm looking forward to it being a more active part, even if just for a few hours. If you're going to be on campus, let me know and we'll meet up!

GO IRISH!!!
-B

MRI today...

So I'll be in the MRI machine for awhile today. Once scan, alone, will take 3 hours, and I have a few I'm getting done. Fun, fun, fun!...or something. It's not too bad, really, but that's a long time to lie still. Hopefully I'll be able to breathe out of my nose. It would really suck if not. I'm just going to try to sleep. I usually do OK that way. I'm pretty sure I'll be in the IU Cancer Center Radiology Dept., and they have music, so that should help.

They'll just be looking at tumor stuff, getting some up to date images. I'll see one of my regular neurosurgeons (he operated on the tumor last year) next week, then a couple of new guys the week after. Since Phoenix dicked me over, we'll be working on Plan B. This MRI will be taking a closer look at my chiari malformation (basically my brain hangs too low in the back). I saw on an episode of House awhile ago that a guy with a chiari malformation had some issues with losing consciousness when he was in certain positions and figured it'd be worth getting a closer look at mine. I realize that House is a fictional TV show, but we hadn't really explored the chiari stuff in any depth, so we'll check it out with the scan today. Also, I've had some swollen lymph nodes in my neck for awhile (biopsy came back clean), and if anything looks wrong with them, we can remove any offending tissue. So there's a lot of information to be gathered. They usually give me a copy of the scans if  I ask, and I will ask again, so as long as my PC cooperates and reads the disc, I'll post any particularly cool images sometime soon.

I'm not worried at all about any of it. I'm mainly worried about being somewhat comfortable in the machine. I should be alright as long as I can breathe. And if not, well, too bad, I guess.

Happy Friday!
-B