Treason of Words

I just got back from my appointment with my neurosurgeon, Dr Stovall. In his opinion, the tumor (yes, it's officially a tumor now) and the seizures may in fact be related; an EEG, he tells me, is good for identifying seizures, but not for locating them to a high degree of precision. Not only that, he also believes that the growth is a benign (albeit abnormal) meningioma. Extracting it now would carry a 10-to-15% chance of a negative outcome (most likely decreased right-side strength or dexterity or complications arising from compromising the nearby sagittal vein). Therefore, what he recommends, and what I had actually concluded was the best course of action before he suggested it, is to treat the seizures with the Tegretol I'm already starting, to watch the lesion for signs of change, and to monitor me for any further symptoms. To that end, I'm scheduling another MRI for mid-April to see if things have changed.

There are relatively few who have had the awesome privilege of witnessing my glorious nakedness. This is probably in the best interest of the public's mental health. There are even fewer who actually aspired to such an honor. This is probably, IMHO, indicative of prevailing poor taste. You, however, good reader, are in for an even greater thrill. Behold! Yep, that's me. Not merely au naturel , but rather sans peau . The red-tinted bit is the mysterious growth I mentioned previously. As it turns out, it may not be the thing causing my seizures (yes, we're calling them seizures now, although I favor the more folksy "spells," since there's none of the motion usually associated with seizures) after all. The periods of disorientation I have seem to emanate from my left temporal lobe (the front-ish part of the brain), while this ominous-looking lump is nestled into the top of my left parietal lobe. I've got a prescription to treat the seizures (yay, drugs!). As ...