How the Time Goes By

it has been a few days since i last wrote. snow, high winds and doctors visits have come and gone. well, the flurries may not have gone. i met with my surgeon last week. let me rephrase that. i met with his nurse practitioner and he came in to admire his stitching work. she was late to work because of the weather. in the waiting room there were exceptionally old magazines. finally, she walked into the room. i had never seen this person before. i was expecting to see Dr. Kennedy. :) i should have known better.

with her southern drawl she asked me a myriad of questions about my symptoms prior to the surgery and what has gone on for the month since i had the procedure. i asked her numerous questions about exercise, returning to work, driving, how much longer will i have headaches and what the severity of them might be, to name just a few. she removed some of the stitches that were sticking out of my neck. she rubbed her hand forcefully over my scar. i have to say it was a bit unnerving. my neck had never had such forceful contact. it is numb and so it gave me a strange sensation that made me quiver. she was impressed with Dr. Kennedy's work, as am i. she stated that i need to wait 6 months to participate in an contact sports. i did not hear that. i am going to go with Dr. Kennedy's original suggestion to wait 3 months to start playing ball again. she indicated that i may start driving if my range of motion with my neck allows me to do that, but only on side streets. she informed me that i may go back to work in three weeks. i am excited yet there is much trepidation returning. the trepidation is around the volume of emails and my ability to be able to be lively in meetings for 8 hours a day. i am sure i will return to form fairly quickly.

after answering all of my questions she went to grab Dr. Kennedy. he came in and looked at the scar. he was impressed. he said that i have to have an MRI in three months and if that has no sign of growth, have another in three additional months. if that one looks good, they will have another one in six months. if that one is negative, i will have them yearly. i should not have to see him again unless thee tumor grows quickly. he also wanted me to set up an appointment to see a neurological oncologist just in case. this physician will take a look at me and might get me into some studies, but more it was to get to know him and if the tumor recurs, he can set up some treatment options with chemo or radiation. all in all, it went well.