I watched this last night, and then spent a few hours listening to Martin's podcast. I live in Southern California, and for the past several months have been receiving testing and consultations with the specialists at Loma Linda University, a bastion of advanced medical care in the United States. For the longest time they were leaning toward a diagnosis of tumefactive multiple sclerosis, because of the nature of the brain lesion that I have, and the indications of several MRIs and MR spectroscopy. However, my lesion is in a particularly difficult area to treat, given that it is in a critical area affecting my motor cortex, and a definitive needle biopsy has thus far not been done---given the composition of the lesion, it would not be a high yield result. My latest MRIs show that the lesion is growing, however, and now I really haven't any choice but to go through an excisional biopsy, which basically is a craniotomy. Mine will be an awake procedure, something I am preparing myself for. I meet this week with my neuro-oncologist, and then the following week with the neurosurgeon, who will go over the particulars of surgery. We will also decide what level of deficit I might be willing to accept...as stated, this lesion is in a bad area. At any rate, the general consensus now is that it is not tumefactive multiple sclerosis, but a malignancy. The neurosurgeon mentioned astrocytoma, but glioblastoma is another possibility. Watching these videos, and listening to Martin's podcast, has been very helpful to me. I have in common with Martin the fact that I am not depressed in the slightest about all of this. I find it strangely fascinating to be going through it all, in fact. I have always had an irrepressible sense of humor...which I suppose is correctly spelled "humour" in Britain, but I am a barbarous American...and I appreciate finding others who have gone through, and are going through, these same things, with the same cheeky outlook. So, let me offer my thanks. And dear Martin, please know that you have inspired me. I remember the quote from Simone de Beauvoir, who, writing about Simone Weil, said, "I envied a heart that could beat across the ocean." It is my great pleasure to find just such a heart, and through this video and your podcast, make its acquaintance. ~ Jack
I watched this last night, and then spent a few hours listening to Martin's podcast. I live in Southern California, and for the past several months have been receiving testing and consultations with the specialists at Loma Linda University, a bastion of advanced medical care in the United States. For the longest time they were leaning toward a diagnosis of tumefactive multiple sclerosis, because of the nature of the brain lesion that I have, and the indications of several MRIs and MR spectroscopy.
However, my lesion is in a particularly difficult area to treat, given that it is in a critical area affecting my motor cortex, and a definitive needle biopsy has thus far not been done---given the composition of the lesion, it would not be a high yield result. My latest MRIs show that the lesion is growing, however, and now I really haven't any choice but to go through an excisional biopsy, which basically is a craniotomy. Mine will be an awake procedure, something I am preparing myself for.
I meet this week with my neuro-oncologist, and then the following week with the neurosurgeon, who will go over the particulars of surgery. We will also decide what level of deficit I might be willing to accept...as stated, this lesion is in a bad area. At any rate, the general consensus now is that it is not tumefactive multiple sclerosis, but a malignancy. The neurosurgeon mentioned astrocytoma, but glioblastoma is another possibility.
Watching these videos, and listening to Martin's podcast, has been very helpful to me. I have in common with Martin the fact that I am not depressed in the slightest about all of this. I find it strangely fascinating to be going through it all, in fact. I have always had an irrepressible sense of humor...which I suppose is correctly spelled "humour" in Britain, but I am a barbarous American...and I appreciate finding others who have gone through, and are going through, these same things, with the same cheeky outlook.
So, let me offer my thanks. And dear Martin, please know that you have inspired me. I remember the quote from Simone de Beauvoir, who, writing about Simone Weil, said, "I envied a heart that could beat across the ocean."
It is my great pleasure to find just such a heart, and through this video and your podcast, make its acquaintance.
~ Jack