follow-up

Yesterday morning was my first follow-up appointment with the surgeon that performed the surgery on my brain. The scheduling made by my health plan worked out nicely since it's over an hour's drive to get there from where I live, and I had an MRI of the operated site taken beforehand during the same visit.

All in all, for what I had, the surgery was a success! On the day of the surgery at the end of July, we were told by the surgeon that he was able to remove approximately 90% of the tumor, while not harming any of the nerves which the mass had already grown large enough to become mixed up with, except for losing the hearing in my right ear which I already mentioned in my previous entry I'm back!. But my balance continues to improve, as are my facial muscles (specifically on the right side), and I've got almost all of the taste in mouth back, so I am able to eat pretty much what I want again. Although I would like to keep the added weight off, I have gained a lot of it back so am feeling normal in that respect again.

My next scheduled appointment is just over a month away with another doctor to see if I should consider having radiation treatment to make sure that the growth of the mass stops.

With this in mind, my thoughts will again start turning towards finding a job. I had surgery on my lower back 4 1/2 years ago, and when I recovered from that, I had the honor of caring for my late mother whose health had started to fail. Now I look forward to when she appears in my dreams. Anyway, with brain surgery to add to my earlier back surgery, plus the struggling economy, who knows what I'll be able to find?