No growth, no change, no "new abnormalities", "remains stable".

I think that means I don't have to have surgery?

Yay!

I've decided to go with the wait-and-see approach advised by Dr. Chandler, at least for now. I'd need time to make preparations for surgery no matter whether it's done sooner or later, so I wasn't planning on scheduling anything sooner than a month from now anyway ( Read more... )

So this time I wore that same elastic bra with no metal parts, a purple t-shirt, and my favorite comfy bright red and purple tie-died elastic waist drawstring pants. The technician asked "Are you wearing a bra?" "Yes, but it's all elastic, no metal - and these pants have an elastic waist, no zipper" I told her. "Well, you're all set then" she ( Read more... )

Okay, now I don't know what to do ( Read more... )

Today I had a consultation with Dr. Maciej Lesniak, Associate Professor of Surgery and Director of Neurosurgical Oncology at the University of Chicago Brain Tumor Center ( Read more... )

I went to the MRI center, the opthalmologist's office, and the optometrist's office, and got copies of all the exam reports that have been done so far. Then I made a few sets of copies of the whole bundle so I'll have them ready when needed. I got a CD of the MRI imaging too, and made a copy of that. I got my groovy binder and my sheet protectors ( Read more... )

I left a message for the opthalmologist to call me back today. I put in a call to the MRI center for a CD and copies of the radiologist's report to be made, and I'll be picking them up tomorrow. I'm taking the day off tomorrow and I will be contacting the other BT centers right here in Chicago (5 of them ( Read more... )

The next available appointment with this neurosurgeon is Nov. 11. Nearly a month from now. I don't even know what kind of benign tumor I've got. Is it a glioma, astrocytoma, meningioma? I don't know my prognosis. I don't know what I need to plan for. I don't know anything. I can't wait a whole month to find out something so basic! Is this ( Read more... )

Thanks so much to azale for the links to informative websites. This book looks particularly helpful for this stage in my journey. I was startled to see that it's by Dr. Paul Zeltzer , because this Dr. Paul Zeltzer is one of my favorite minor Scrubs characters. Do you think maybe he moonlights?

From WebMD:

"Survival for patients with benign tumors is usually much better for all age groups, but reliable data is sparse."