@Eva,
Eva wrote:
In February, Roberta wrote:The doctor I saw said that if he was advising his sister, he would tell her to leave things alone--not have the surgery...Yes, the meningioma is there, but it's not considered a brain tumor. These are usually benign tumors near the brain. This one is touching my brain, but is likely not causing any harm. We discussed my "amnesia episode." He's skeptical that the tumor caused that. Wrong symptom for its location. A doctor at the hospital was also skeptical. The fact that I had been on heavy-duty steroids for asthma for over a month are as likely a candidate as the tumor.
For now we will do nothing. I'm not keen on walking around with something in me I know isn't supposed to be there. But for now, I'm going to leave it be. He told me that if I decide to have the surgery, just call.
And should there be another amnesia episode, I should go to the emergency room.
While I was waiting (almost three hours), I noticed that a Bon Pain had opened in the lobby of the hospital. I used to eat at this place many years ago, and I liked it. I asked the doctor if he'd tried it. He said yes, it's good but expensive. I said, "Well that lets me out."
Hold onto yourselves. He arranged for the money I paid for the visit to be refunded to me. In a sense he treated me to lunch. Here comes another thud, but a good one. Thud....
So, you have two opinions. Your original doctor (with whom you have an excellent rapport) recommended against surgery, and this new doctor (whom you do not know) recommended for surgery.
Admittedly, I am a cynic. There are so many doctors who rush to surgery. If I were you, I'd call your original doctor and discuss this latest development with him.
Hope you enjoyed the dessert.
My original doctor is at another hospital. (I went to another hospital because I was getting radiation treatments from that hospital and didn't want the treatments interrupted.) He thought I should have the surgery along with several others there.
You don't see the same doctor when you go to Bellevue. The one who advised against the surgery was just one of many I've seen there. He was the only one who recommended against the surgery. I leapt at it. Just what I wanted to hear.
(I haven't seen the same doctor twice for my throat.)
I'll have the MRI and then I'll talk to whomever the next doctor is. I need more info. Then I'll make a decision.
I had strawberry ice cream with a bit of whipped cream for dessert. Tasted funny. My tastebuds are still not fully functioning.
@Roberta,
Roberta wrote:Obviously, someone on high told doctors to follow up. And the docs is doin' it. On the one hand, I'm impressed as hell. Thousands of people daily. On the other hand, hey Bellevue. Leave me the hell alone.
ok - so they want (at the very least) to do another MRI. Other than paying for it, that's possibly good. ok, possibly not.
ack
@ehBeth,
Hiya Bethie,
Yup, gotta pay for the test. The results will be either the same or worse. The thingie ain't gonna go away on its own.
How's by you?
@Roberta,
Funny thing about strawberry ice cream, though, the taste varies. There might be brands that taste like strawberry. Many taste like oversweet syrup.
@roger,
Blue Bunny.
Best strawberry icecream in the world.
@Foxfyre,
I've had this strawberry ice cream before (Hagen Daz). Always delish. Not yet, I think. Fuzzy, sour, muddy taste.
@Roberta,
Hey....... just lotsa hugs your way goil.... thinking about you x
@Roberta,
Roberta wrote:I'll have the MRI and then I'll talk to whomever the next doctor is. I need more info. Then I'll make a decision.
Sounds like a plan!
I would need a lot of convincing, but that's how I always am. I'd ask a doctor, "If your mother had these symptoms, what course of action would you choose for her?"
Bottom line, it's your decision.
And we're here for you, whatever you decide.
Checking in........ reading up.
@Eva,
Any chance of seeing the hierarchy in the department and where the doctor that said, nah, is on it? Not to get him in trouble, it was an apparent genuine opinion, but ..
but also, he might be right, and if he's off, he's already under scrutiny.
actually, this conversation may be going on in other med centers. The trick is to access that.
I'm not sure if I've told this before. I have some pals that were part of the SmartAssGroup, of renown to us ourselves. But I met their mother, if not first, around the same time, as she was a patient when I worked at X Clinical Lab, back in the seventies. I always liked her, and her daughters are wonderful women.
So one day, I dunno, fifteen years ago, Mom (whom I know by her real name, natch) had to have brain surgery, for an aneurysm. I sort of freaked, not my mother, but a woman I cared about, not to mention my pals, but I wasn't anywhere nearby.
What I remember about all this is that she didn't even have a headache after.
I suppose that is a gloss, but she progressed for a long time later, not downhill.
Reading closely with a lot of interest & concern for Roberta. Eva & osso, you two are making a lot of sense.
@ossobuco,
Well, they're different surgeries and I'm an infant re understanding this kind of surgery. I haven't researched it yet. I know it is fright for Roberta to research.
@msolga,
Thinking of Boida.
((((((((((((((((((((((((((((Boida)))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))
@Roberta,
Checking in on the Boidy (probably a snoozing Boidy this time of day).
@ehBeth,
Hoping Boida got some sleep too. Hugs x
@ossobuco,
My old boss underwent surgery for a tumor and , after a period of rehab he retired and is now sailing around the world at last contact. and his surgery was in a time of reduced capabilities than we have today. (It was like 1995).
Love and warm ohhhmms from the Farmerclan.
I had a short visit with a doctor friend this evening--E.R. physician at the Veteran's Hospital--and asked about meningioma. She concurred that they can go unnoticed for decades, they are rarely malignant and even if they are its usually of a very slow growing type. They do not require any treatment as often as they do.
BUT.....she said based on the location of the tumor, they CAN affect taste, swallowing, speech, and stuff like that.
Could that be why Boida's doctor wants to take another look?
But meanwhile, still here and still waiting.
