02.01.2005 - Follow-Up & Healing

On 02.01.2005, my friend Bradley drove me to my first follow-up appointment with the neurosurgeon and had the staples removed. I had no restrictions on my activities other than not to participate in contact sports for at least one year. No problem for me as I did not play any such sports.

Most of the follow-up decisions now would be up to the neurooncologist who would be monitoring my situation.

The next day, I went out in public for the first time. I felt a bit tired as we were checking out at Costco. It was perhaps a bit more exertion than I had been prepared for, but everything was alright. Every day is a dramatic improvement for me right now.

After another day, I was able to make dinner for our family and then had the most regular sleep schedule so far since leaving the hospital. A couple days after that I was able to do some household chores with out much difficulty.

A couple days later, I was able to take my daughter to the park and it was the first day that I could definitely say that I felt pretty good and almost normal.

The following day, I met with the neurooncologist and he confirmed that my tumor was in fact a grade two oligodendroglioma. Oligodendrogliomas only come between grade two and four. We would now have MRI scans at three month intervals to check on any new growth and/or activity with the tumor tissue. Should any occur, I may need chemotherapy or focused radiation. I could even need further surgery at some time, but certainly not now. He wanted me to hold off on driving again until at least April.

Several days later, I started working out again. I did light work on a stationary bicycle and didn't feel too tired afterwards. I tried attending church services the following day and that was a bit more than I was ready for because it was the longest I had been out of the house since the surgical procedure.