And The Surgeon Says???

Guess what? It's a boy! His name is Horatio and although we don't have a weight yet he measures in at an astonishing 55.9mm x 43.4mm. He's big! He's playing shy and he's a stubborn one just like his Mom and he isn't ready to come out yet!

Anyways, I met with my Surgeon today and obviously I am at home at the moment. We reviewed the MRI together and I have to say that I was and still am in shock of the size of this thing. It literally takes up what looks like at least a quarter of my brain. My Surgeon said he doesn't know what it is, so yes I am an enigma. Imagine my sheer frustration when I heard the words uttered from his mouth, "I don't know what it is." And he knew it, I kind of huffed and said, "I'm sorry but you can imagine my frustration when that's all we've been hearing." He said that he wanted to consult some other Surgeons to get their opinions on the MRI before he proceeds because he isn't a "rush to surgery" kind of Dr. Fair enough, and quite frankly I appreciate that! So the Good, The Bad and the Ugly Truth is below.


The Good: He said that since the MRI didn't pick up any of the contrast dye (which highlights cancer cells) and because of the size of the lesion if it were cancerous I'd probably be a lot worse off physically than I am and producing worse symptoms. But of course they can't say definately that it isn't either. Now he referrenced it as a lesion because they just aren't sure of what it is. He said it could by Cystic which just means it's a cyst, but again they don't know. He said looking at the MRI one could easily assume it's cystic by how it is showing up highlighted totally white on the MRI as though it's all fluid, however having done as many surgeries as he has he said he's learned that oftentimes when you think it's cystic and you get in there you are wrong.

The Bad: Horatio (as we've so unlovingly named him) is freaking HUGE. We just had to name him so I had something to curse out when I needed to:) My God I was and still am in shock after seeing it on the MRI. Further to that, the lesion is deeper than they first thought which is another reason they are not going to rush into surgery. He explained that obviously the deeper it is in the brain the harder it is to get at everything that needs to be removed and the more issues you can run into in the end in regards to problems during and after surgery. Horatio really is a big ugly nasty univited house guest that I want evicted.

The Ugly Truth: The Surgeon placed me on Seizure Medication for the seizures I've been having and whatever this freaking thing is it has to come out. My Surgeon is away next week but said his office will call me the following Monday with an appointment for a Biopsy, he said depending on what he finds after reviewing the images further with his colleagues that they may operate at that time. He also said that he would need to do the Biopsy with me totally knocked out because of where the lesion is located. To give you an idea of how large this sucker is, read below.

The average Adult Brain measures 140mm in width by 167mm in length. And Horatio measures 43.4mm in width by 55.9mm in length, he's pretty much occupying a good chunk of real estate in my Right Temporal Lobe. Nasty squatter!

I'm very frustrated that I still have no difinitive answers. I feel like I'm in a very bad nightmare and can't wake up from it, and as you can imagine this is all emotionally taxing. I also feel like a Medical Enigma that no one can figure out! Anyways, we are pretty much exactly where we've been all along. Very little info, no difinitive answers and a hell of a lot more waiting. I will update this blog as I get more answers, you know other than, "We don't know what it is!"