Post #4: Diagnosis, Decisions and Surgery

It didn't take the emergency room doctors very long to figure out that I had a big problem. I was first attended by a Dr. Ashraf Anani (internal medicine). After physically examining me, Dr. Anani, admitted me into the hospital and I entered a private room. More from the description of my physical and mental behaviors, he ordered a CT scan of my head. Initially they did think that I had a stroke. There was swelling and damage apparent inside my skull. This was causing a shift in the normal position of my brain in my head. The fact that I had way too much physical and mental function present in the face of that much damage suggested that it really wasn't a stroke. The staff at Lee Memorial Health Park quickly brought in a neurological surgeon, Dr. Saman P. Javedan. He ordered a full head MRI for me.

That's when it was revealed that I had a large brain tumor in my right temporal lobe. I was no longer in the denial stage. I knew I had a big problem but I was still "with it" enough to try to figure out a good course of action

The large tumor was pushing my brain around inside my skull. I was a great risk for seizure. They immediately put me on dexamethasone and Dilantin. I was advised to have surgery in Fort Myers. I knew very little about the hospital and doctors in Fort Myers. I desperately wanted to fly back to Indiana for the surgery. I started making contacts back to my friends and former colleagues in Indiana to try to find a surgeon who would work on me back there. There were several choices at IU Med Center, including Dr. Eric Horn. After several telephone conversations with friends and doctors, it became apparent that any kind of travel was too risky and I had to have surgery in Fort Myers. Having a seizure on an airplane or in an airport was a recipe for disaster.

I did a little of my own research on Dr. Javedan and found that he was very well trained (Johns Hopkins and M.D. Anderson) and qualified. I decided to stay put and have the surgery.

Later Monday night, I was transferred by ambulance to The Lee Memorial main hospital on US41 (ironically near the golf course I played) into a open room in the critical care unit.

No doubt, because of Thanksgiving, my surgery was held up until that Friday, November 28. My entire family came to the CCU on Thanksgiving night, 11/27, with turkey from home. I couldn't eat very much of it but I sure enjoyed having them all there with me that night. You all know about CCU units. Lights on 24/7, patients have full heart and oxygen monitors on, and of course every 4 hours a nurse wakes you to take and record your vital stats. My surgery would come the next morning.

Dr. Sam P. Javedan did the 4.5 hr surgery on Friday, November 28th. They removed a piece skull (along with the flesh and scalp) and cleared out as much tumor as they could. They call this surgery, "de-bulking". The surgeon described this procedure as like removing an avocado pit from the fruit. It's a delicate, imprecise surgery that can do more damage than harm if not carefully done as the tumor itself is woven through the brain tissue as an intrinsic mass. He replaced the piece of skull, and "stapled" my scalp back on. I came through the surgery without any complications and was actually hungry for dinner that night. I was in intensive care for 3 days before the surgery and 2 days after. Obviously, there was a lot of pain involved. I then went to a private room and was released from the hospital in good shape and function at noon on December 2nd.