15. My Second Craniotomy
My last article was all about increasingly-developing symptoms from all of the treatment I’d had so far. Since then, I’ve had another brain surgery (my second craniotomy) – whoooo!
This surgery was to drain the pocket of ‘treatment-crap’ and to scrape out the walls of said pocket. It was explained that this area of my brain is particularly vulnerable to deficit after surgery, and so there was a risk of losing some feeling, language, coordination skills, etc. My surgeon and I agreed that if the choice is between a tangerine-sized mass, or some deficit, we’d pick the latter!
Perfect day for a brain surgery! – Taken in the car on the way to the hospital (14th May)
So, on the 7th of May I signed my surgery consent forms, I then had to get a COVID-19 test on the 12th of May. Now, from anyone that I’ve talked to about COVID-19 in the North East of England, nobody has had a test themselves – so I was excited to get this thing done! Is that weird??? The test comprised of a swab stick being shoved down the back of your throat for a few seconds to collect mucus, then the same swab is used in your nostrils – where they stick the swab in so far you feel you’re getting a lobotomy! Not nice!
Back to the real brain surgery – the date was set as the 14th of May. The night before my first surgery was a rush as we had no warning. I was scanned at 10am, waited around for results, diagnosed with a huge brain tumour at about 3pm, I rushed home, packed, and my mum and I set off for the hospital late that night. I was starving! So the AMAZING nurses grabbed as many treats (cakes, chocolate bars, yogurts, you name it!) as I could have before the midnight – where I was to be nil-by-mouth (no food!!!). So, we have created a tradition that the night before every surgery, my mum and I will have a great feast of crap-food – of course my little sister joined this time!
Pre-Surgery
The day of the surgery was here – Thursday 14th May. Nice early morning of 6am, to the hospital by 8am, then we wait.
COVID-19 – what a dick! This virus robbed my mum from being there before and/or after surgery. I was dropped off at 8am, and my family won’t see me until Saturday at the earliest. The simple things such as hoping that my mum could be there when I woke up after surgery – they are robbed from us by this pandemic. This is why it is imperative that this crisis is appreciated by all, regardless of situation.
So, what’s going on today? Today (14th May) we get to work! The walls of this white mass (right) need to be drained and scraped from my ‘healthy’ brain tissue. Nice and simple… At about 11am, off I went!
Darker image - Sept 2019 – Notice the non-rounded bit (that’s TED)
Lighter image - May 2020 – Notice it’s all fluid – that’s a good sign that we’ve fucked TED up!
During Surgery
Nothing to report here, I was asleep!
Post-Surgery – 14th, 15th, 16th May
I was in recovery (the room where the docs make sure you’re all good after surgery) for an hour or so before being taken to my ward – where I am now as I write this. Tired, achey and sore, I called my family to say that I was alive! 🎉🎉🎉
The surgery went great! Tough there are some new ‘traits‘ I now have to work with. As expected, there are some deficits caused by scratching the ‘healthy’ brain. These are all on the right side of my body and consist of; difficulty when chewing, no coordination and numbness on my right side, and a few language/speech stumbles.
The biggest thing for me on Thursday is that my right arm was completely gone – I couldn’t feel it, move it with control, and couldn’t grip. Now, Saturday morning, I managed to point my hand in the correct direction, and I also managed to grab my duvet a little when folding the hospital bed sheets. Also I nearly peeled a banana! My chewing has gotten better, and I think all that is going on is that my right cheek muscles don’t work as well anymore – so I have a pirate smile for now!
Battle scars, again – thank you mum for my pre-surgery lockdown haircut!
With the everything, I like to keep a positive outlook. The progress I’ve made in the last day alone gives me hope that things will be better. If I walk slower from now, who cares?! My strides were always too-long to begin with!!!
If you were to walk through fire, you’d expect some charing – it’s all about dusting yourself off and getting on with it.
Roll on the rest of recovery!
Stay safe folks.
