He walked me through my psychological assessment results and as expected he confirmed that I have already suffered some memory impairment, most likely due to the location of the tumour. Hopefully any further deterioration should be able to be halted with its successful removal. On the plus side, he said I have "superior cognitive abilities" =D (hey, his words not mine).
He also explained that there will be a 10% risk of epileptic seizures in the months following the surgery. He said I'm still ok to play video games though (thank God). I will be on seizure meds for a few months and if I get through the initial months ok, I should be clear for the long term.
Skip This Part If You're Squeamish...
He also talked me through the details of the surgery itself. The entry point will be the back of my head on the upper right-hand side, where he will make a single linear cut in my scalp (around 10-15 cm long). The scalp will be peeled back to reveal the skull bone, from which he will saw out a disc of bone, around 5 cm in diameter. This will create his 'working space'.
Through here, he will conduct an "Image guided craniotomy" which involves micro-surgery through the hole that's been created. He will be observing progress via video screen and he'll also use a computer guided tracking system to know exactly where he is at all times. The tool is actually an ultrasonic scalpel which will cut bits of the tumour off and suck it away. Once done, he'll put the bone back in place, screw it down and stitch the scalp back up.
After The Surgery
With my particular type of surgery, there is a risk of spinal fluid pressure building up in the ventricles, so he will be leaving a tube inside that will poke out from the top of my head to allow him to monitor this (nice). I am assuming this is only temporary, otherwise I'll need to buy some new hats.
I'll be concious by Thursday afternoon, albeit with a tube sticking out of my sore, bald head (yes I am fishing for sympathy) and then hopefully out of intensive care by end of day Friday.
The good news is that he promised to try and get me some video or photos of the surgery for my blog. The bad news is that I'm not allowed to bring my Playstation.
The surgery sounds so incredibly complex and delicate, I am so grateful that you will have the skills of the best surgeon for the task, guided by the hands of God himself.
ReplyDeleteThinking of you so much bro.
Love
Bing xx
Tak,
ReplyDeleteFor sure you've found the very best in town.
I'm confident that your partnership with Prof Poon will yield amazing result and victory !
There are tons of work waiting for you to do in the office ... so keep your vacation short !
Love,
Royce
PS : I've shared your blog with my daughters and they said they might change their mind to become a doctor one day. Their preference now is still to be a fairy !
Keep up the writing, following the updates eagerly...will you post on Thursday ...are laptops allowed in ??
ReplyDeleteRotten news about the PS3 T. Rotten news.
ReplyDeleteBut I've got a plan. I could camouflage a couple of PSPs with big bunches of real grapes. That way, we could get some old-school multiplayer GTA action in, while any unsuspecting nurse who might pass by would just see just a couple of regular patient/visitor types rummaging through their grapes.
Albeit somewhat excitedly rummaging through their grapes.
I'm working on another plan, but it involves you getting out of bed and checking the back of your EMT monitor for HDMI ports when the doctor's back is turned.
Let me know what you think.
Si,
ReplyDeleteI like the PSP plan. I will bring mine in along with my copy of GTA and will be waiting for arrival with AK47 in hand. Don't think you can beat me just cos I have a tumour.