Day 60 - 2007 - Brain Surgery

Description

Day 60 - A very LONG story. So I made 2 pages - but I only have the one photo!!

In December 2005, I slipped and fell on ice and went to the ER to have a CAT Scan. There I was told that I had a benign cyst in my head. At that time I had no symptoms. I spent most of January 2006, researching this cyst. The predominate symptom was bad headaches, that refused to go away, and also something called "sudden death". This sounded familiar so I asked my parents to send me the death certificate for my older sister who died in 1993.

Sure enough, the cause of death on her certificate was a Colloid Cyst of the 3rd Ventricle. The exact same diagnosis I had been given. I eventually got an appointment to see a neurosurgeon, who gave me an MRI and then agreed to allow me to watch and wait, since I did not yet have any symptoms. It was no longer a case of IF I would have symptoms, not it was when I would have symptoms. I was also still not a permanent resident and any major surgery like this could jeopardise my application.

I finally became a permanent resident of Canada in December 2006. In March 2007, my symptoms began. Every time I bent over to tie my shoes or to get dressed, I would get dizzy. So I called the Neurosurgeons office and made another appointment. He did another MRI and agreed that the cyst was definitely getting bigger. It was now 1.5 by 1.5 cm which in medical terms, is a large cyst. Since my employment contract was due to end in mid July, I agreed to have Craniotomy Surgery on 26 July 2007. My recovery would probably take anywhere from 4 to 12 months.

Brain surgery is a major trauma to the human body. I had to apply for unemployment benefits while I was not working, and my husband would have to take over looking after our now 5 year old son. At least that was the plan.

I had my surgery on 26 July 2007, and 5 days later I was discharged and sent home. At the time I was discharged the surgeons had shaved one quarter of my head. So I promptly went back to the local barber to get all the rest of my hair shaved off. This photo is what I looked like when I got home from the barber. Sadly, it is the only photo I ever took of this whole story!!

Supplies

2 clusters and 1 paper all from the Palestine Bundle
https://www.digitalscrapbook.com/marisa-lerin/kits/palestine-bundle-glitter-winter-navy-orange-pink-blue-teal-purple