What's on my mind...

I've been really fortunate to come out of my past surgeries "ok". No right side body weakness, no speech issues and with my personality (kind of) intact. Thankfully, I was able to return to my family and work with almost no accommodations. I have seizures but...

Functional MRI (FMRI)

Usually the point of any MRI is to be very still. Any movement will render the scan obsolete. This MRI was different.

My brain MRI's are usually about 40 minutes or so.  I had my first one right after the doctor told me I had a brain tumor 10 years ago, after a CT scan found the tumor. Now I've had too many to count. Probably 4 per year so I'm coming up on 40 or so. The last 15 minutes or so I usually receive an IV of Gadolinium. This allows for some additional information

OK, it's getting real...

It's a good thing we scheduled this meeting! Our first pre-op with my epilepsy specialist, Dr. Fisher, was today. If you are going to "have" a seizure condition this is the guy

Medical Leave - Day 1

Today was the official start of my medical leave.  Today was also the start of many appointments. Good thing I'm not claustrophobic.

How it began...

In December of 2004, I had a grand mal seizure at work and ended up at Stanford Hospital. Within a few hours, I was told that I had a tumor the size of a golf ball in the left frontal lobe of my brain.

I was admitted and a few days later I had my first surgery to remove the tumor. I learned that I had a Stage 2 Oligodendroglioma. I was 27 years old. The first recovery was pretty rough but, I recovered and was back at it. I was back at it...