The Medical Bit.

Brain tumours just happen. Scientists have spent decades researching the causes, and so far there is no real understanding on why they happen. They just do. It has nothing to do with how fit you are, your diet, your lifestyle, which country you live in or what you listen to on your iPod (although I do have a sneaking suspicion that Techno music has something to do with it).

They come in all sorts of shapes and sizes. This is what my one looks like:

Conclusive proof that I really do have a brain.

Yes, that's a cross section of my head and that big lump in the middle is the tumour (the guy from the MRI lab helpfully drew a red arrow pointing to it, in case we missed it). It measures 4.4cm x 3cm x 3cm - (about the size of an egg) and is growing in the ventricles - a space in the brain that contains spinal fluid.

It's impossible to know for sure what kind of tumour it is until they actually perform the surgery because they have to take a sample of it and send it off for analysis. However, the doctors suspect that it's a Central Neurocytoma, which is a grade 2, benign tumour. That means they should be able to deal with it with a single round of surgery. If the surgery doesn't completely remove it, there would probably be radiotherapy to follow.

Central Neurocytomas are very rare - they account for less than 0.5% of all brain tumours (lucky old me). But as far as brain tumours go, it's relatively docile. If you had to pick one to have it would probably be this one =)

Treatment:

Open surgery is the treatment of choice. This is the most efficient way to get rid of it. I've been told that I would need to spend anything between 5-10 hours in surgery followed by 24hrs in intensive care and 7-10 days in hospital recovering. If everything is smooth, I will be allowed to go home but I will have to live under supervision for a few weeks (thanks in advance to my sister in Tai Po who has the pleasure of looking after me afterwards). And then, assuming no radiotherapy or follow up surgery is required, I should be able to go back to living a normal life within 8 weeks.

The Risks:

A lot of people have been concerned and have asked me about this, so here it is.

Brain surgery always carries a risk and there's no escaping that. However, with modern technology and a good surgeon, these risks can be kept to a minimum. My understanding so far is that there is a 1% risk of death (sounds like pretty good odds to me). There is a less than 5% risk of having residual motor deficiencies after surgery. I have also been told that my tumor is growing against the part of my brain that is responsible for memory (which explains a lot), so there is a less than 5% chance of some kind of further memory impairment.

None of this worries me because:

1. I have found the absolute finest neurosurgeon in HK - Professor Poon Wai Sang from the Prince of Wales Hospital. He came highly commended from a variety of different sources, including the Professor PJ Kelly, Head of Neurosurgery at NYU.
2. I have an amazing support network of friends and family in HK. I can't stress how important this is, it's not just about boosting my morale, it makes a genuine difference in the recovery process.
3. My age and general state of good health puts me in a very good position for a full and rapid recovery.
4. I have faith.

I have met surgeons from the private sector and even considered going back to the UK for my treatment, but after meeting with Professor Poon (who incidentally was my 3rd opinion), I decided that I had found my man. He has a stack of experience and talked through the procedure clearly and confidently, just as you would expect from the guy who teaches neurosurgery to the other surgeons in HK.