Just checking in

Collecting Info

Well, there's not a lot new happening but here's a quick update on the progress of my second opinions.

On Friday, Stanford sent me the written second opinion I requested. They completed a thorough review of my medical records and, as I expected, they identified alternative routes the surgeon could take to my tumor. I plan to request a full consultation with them on Monday.

This Wednesday, I have another tele health consultation with USC in southern California. I'm hoping he also sees the potential for going another route.

Then, in about two and half weeks, I will have a third consultation with Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. My husband and I were going to be out there visiting family and they happen to have a excellent skull base neurosurgeon so we thought why not just get an opinion there too?

My hope is that the initial recommendation from UCSF is the outlier and that the other neurosurgeons will have more interest in preserving my hearing. Then, its on to scheduling surgery!

Collecting My Thoughts

I. Am. Tired. Tired of waiting for answers. Tired in general. Tired of headaches. Last week the headaches were rough. I felt like I could not change my body position once without pain. Fortunately the sharp, severe pains still pass relatively quickly and I continue to be without other notable neurological symptoms.

Something good last week was that I got to attend a free meningioma webinar hosted by Stanford's meningioma support group. Quarterly, one of their neurosurgeons discusses a new topic on meningiomas. The first half is a an informative lecture and the second half is a participant Q&A. The next one is on September 3. If interested, more information can be found here.

Well, that's all I've got. Once I get more questions answered I will hopefully have a more definitive plan! Stay tuned.