Notes from Norman

The Tumor Tumult (7)

I haven’t had any more contact with doctors about my surgery in September. Waiting is the hardest part. It’s funny how things work on my mind now that I know I’ve got a tumor near the spinal cord. I start thinking that every ache, every pain, every sore muscle and joint, every tingle, every itch is related to this pecan sized lump at the base of my brain. Of course I’ve had all these same symptoms for years and never paid any attention to them. It’s enough to make one paranoid. We did have one bit of encouraging news. We were concerned about our supplementary insurance, since LSU is an “out of network” hospital. This week they informed me that they’ve reviewed my case, and agreed to cover the surgery. That helps the pocketbook quite a bit.

I also got a bit of encouraging news from the Shreveport Times. Dr. Anil Nanda, the man who will do my surgery, was recently invited to lecture to a group of neurosurgeons in New York. Guess what his subject was? He talked about performing surgery at the base of the brain. I wonder if he used pictures of my brain. If he did, it's the only way my brain will ever make it into a meeting of doctors.

posted by Norman @ 10:04 AM