Surgery is scheduled for next Wednesday, so today was my day full of pre-op appointments: Another contrast MRI, a new round of lab work, and a meeting with the Dr. Neurosurgeon.
Fun fact: the average meningioma grows about 1 mm per year, according to my surgeon.
Less fun fact: mine grew 4.2 mm since it was measured back in March, according to today's MRI.
So... I'm struggling a little tonight. I'm more anxious than I was earlier in the week (and that's pretty anxious). It feels alarming and scary and not the kind of overachieving I'm looking for in my life. I love to be a little different, but not so much when it comes to my brain health.
HOWEVER.
Silver linings here - this is very clear evidence that we are making the right choice at the right time. If we were continuing to wait and see how things look, the doctor would be strongly recommending surgery at this point. Also, he doesn't feel like this necessarily changes anything. It's still probably a meningioma, it's still probably benign, and even with the additional size and density, it still doesn't appear to be invading the brain itself. He still thinks the surgery and recovery are likely to be routine.
There will be a whole bunch of new information on the other side of the surgery - how the surgery goes, how my body responds to it, what pathology says about the tumor. We'll be able to make a new plan for what's next once we've reached that point.
For now, I'll continue to bask in the glow of the positivity folks are sending my way and keep putting one foot in front of the other.
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