Round 2

Sorry for the delayed update but the past couple of days have been hectic and painful to say the least. On Thursday, I had my second brain surgery in order to clear my head of the infection. The surgery went well and was a much shorter 3 hours long compared to the 8 hours it took the first round. After surgery I had to spend 3 more hours in the recovery room while they tried to get my pain under control. After my 12th shot of morphine the Dr. finally figured out that it was going to take something stronger to relive the pain. They installed a drain tube in the right side of my head in order to keep me from swelling as much as I did the first go around. The drain tube sounds like a great idea but was also where the majority of my pain came from after the surgery. I spent the rest of the day on Thursday asking everyone to be quit while I tried to get some sleep. I think the nursing staff got tired of me paging them every 2 hours asking for more pain medication during my first stay because they installed a pain pump this time. The pain pump is basically an IV that gives me control of when I get pain medication. I can push a button every 6 minutes and it dispenses more medication. Basically, I’m living my life 6 minutes at time right now. Overall, my pain is a little worse from this surgery but my overall condition is better. I’m walking and talking with very little issues and I’m actually eating full meals. The Dr. is still telling me that I need to take it easy for a while and get some rest. They think I will probably be here until Tuesday or Wednesday of next week. Fortunately, it looks like I am going to be able to meet with a radiologist Tuesday and then go to my neuro-oncologist appointment in Houston on Thursday. If things go as planned I will most likely go directly to Houston on Wednesday evening. This little bump in the road is almost over so now we can concentrate back on removing the rest of the cancer. I appreciate all the supportive calls and messages. It makes lying in this hospital bed much easier knowing that I have an awesome support team all over the country. To sum things up I just want to let everyone know that my surgery went well and I am now just trying to recover. My head is a little swollen and I have about 70 staples in my head but I look much better than I did after my first surgery. We should know more about when I will be released in the next couple of days and I will update this site when that information comes available. Please continue to keep me in your prayers and send positive thoughts my way. I look forward to seeing you all real soon.

Brian