Brain Tumor

[Saccopoo]

So, that shit is fun.

Started having some really cool and powerful deja-vu at work on Tuesday, then a strong ominous feeling set in and then started seeing small, flashing rainbow colored lights under the brim of my hat. Figured that it was either a premonition about an earthquake (like animals get) as Salt Lake City sits on a fault line, either that or I was hitting a major fatigue wall as I had been working long hours and had been hitting the gym pretty hard while not getting as much sleep as required in addition to cutting carbs from the diet. Anyway, I got a little freaked out, went to the bakery, grabbed a croissant and detoured it and everything kinda went back to normal.

Later on, started getting the deja-vu again (and it was super good shit - like I was seeing the future and shit - and it even had a soundtrack going along with it), and that's about all I can remember. Apparently I turned to the guy next to me, said something about tripping my balls off massively and told him I was going to puke, then my eyes rolled back into my head and I passed out and hit the floor like a sack of potatoes.

Came to with the EMT dude holding a ice pack to the back of my mellon on a huge goose egg. They were going to call an ambulance to take me to the ER and I told them it was nothing and I was fine. Fortunately the HR guy was standing there and convinced me to go to the ER. When I got there they did a CT scan to check for concussion probabilities.

Dude came back into the room with the radiologist and said "Um, bad news. There is a mass in the right side of your brain and we want to do an MRI for more detail."

"Well, shit."

So they did that and sure enough, there is a golf ball sized mass sitting there with a bunch of fluid around it. Nuerosurgeon (chief resident who looks like he's 17, comes in and says that they want to schedule surgery on Friday morning. Okies.

So, I'm sitting here in the Neurology wing of the University of Utah hospital (which is highly regarded) worrying about these guys going to the Utah/Michigan game tonight and coming back into surgery tomorrow hungover as shit.

Bonus is, I've had two really hot nurses in a row the past two nights. Tried to convince both to give me a leisure massage and body shampoo, but they didn't go for it though I had a girl from work come by last night to visit who wanted to give me a hummer.

Anyway, I'm feeling pretty fortunate that shit went down the way it did, because I most likely would have blown it off for ever until it became really bad. (Although, I am going to ask them if it's benign if they can just keep it in there because I was digging the deja-vu bordering on omnipotence.)

Also I hear that the chief neurosurgeon is totally old school and I think I saw him sharpening his hacksaw on a rusty pipe outside and telling the nurse that she should find his favorite spoon.

[Saccopoo]

Like I've always said, this place is the best. Family away from family and has always allowed me a place to kind of sanctuary when I need to get away from real life.

Knowing that guys like BigMeatball, Lonewolf are going through the same kind of shit helps a ton.

[Meatloaf]

Sacc, like BigMeatball and Lonewolf Ed, you're just gonna have to take it one step at a time. Who knows what wonderful advances will be made in the next 5-10 years. Just gotta hang in there and get through it all.

[rico]

Just now came across this. Wishing the best for you, Sacc.

[eDave]

Originally Posted by Saccopoo

Like I've always said, this place is the best. Family away from family and has always allowed me a place to kind of sanctuary when I need to get away from real life.

Knowing that guys like BigMeatball, Lonewolf are going through the same kind of shit helps a ton.

Hey man. I picked up a transient couple outside of Flagstaff and took them all the way to KC last weekend. The dude, Zack, was dying in 2 months. They were on their way to FL for their last chance to get ahead before he dies. Such a great trip. I've got a million stories and much more detail.

Oh, and he wants to fight an alligator before he goes.

Tough time saying goodbye to those guys. I didn't know what to say to him, and I said so and we hugged and I cried. Finally I told him to live it up. Been thinking of them every since. :'(

[The Franchise]

I love you Sacc. Fight the good fight.

[DaFace]

Sorry to hear the prognosis wasn't more positive man. As others have said, all you can do is fight the good fight. As others have said, people beat the estimates all the time, and you can too.

[Meatloaf]

Originally Posted by eDave

Hey man. I picked up a transient couple outside of Flagstaff and took them all the way to KC last weekend. The dude, Zack, was dying in 2 months. They were on their way to FL for their last chance to get ahead before he dies. Such a great trip. I've got a million stories.

Oh, and he wants to fight an alligator before he goes.

Tough time saying goodbye to those guys. I didn't know what to say to him, and I said so and we hugged and I cried. Been thinking of them every since. :'(

Very cool, eDave. You are a good man.

[SAUTO]

Wow edave, props

[Bewbies]

Sacc, you've got this. Medicine is advancing at a breakneck pace in this field. Treatments and cures are changing and being found almost monthly.

And there's not a doctor alive who can tell any of us how long we'll live.

[Saccopoo]

I'm pretty sure that I'm going to find the guy who invented the MRI machine and punch him right in the dick. Really hard.

Just got out of a four hour (literally, in the tube for four straight hours with one piss break mixed in) MRI marathon session due to insurance and scheduling conflicts.

You know what? It sucked.

So if I post anything mean or nasty to anyone tonight, it's not my intention to do so.

[threebag]

Sacc all the best and keep fightin your ass off.

[Pitt Gorilla]

Originally Posted by Saccopoo

I'm pretty sure that I'm going to find the guy who invented the MRI machine and punch him right in the dick. Really hard.

Just got out of a four hour (literally, in the tube for four straight hours with one piss break mixed in) MRI marathon session due to insurance and scheduling conflicts.

You know what? It sucked.

So if I post anything mean or nasty to anyone tonight, it's not my intention to do so.

If you really don't want an MRI, don't have one. They can't force you to have one against your will.

[Lonewolf Ed]

Originally Posted by Saccopoo

I'm pretty sure that I'm going to find the guy who invented the MRI machine and punch him right in the dick. Really hard.

Just got out of a four hour (literally, in the tube for four straight hours with one piss break mixed in) MRI marathon session due to insurance and scheduling conflicts.

You know what? It sucked.

So if I post anything mean or nasty to anyone tonight, it's not my intention to do so.

FOUR hours?? Crush some heads, man!

[Saccopoo]

Originally Posted by Pitt Gorilla

If you really don't want an MRI, don't have one. They can't force you to have one against your will.

Oh, I know, but this was the first one post-op and they have to find out how much of the cancer cells are left after they pulled out the main meatwad mass. Also, as my tumor is a nerve cell based type, they need to find out if some of it has migrated into the spinal cord. (****ing awesome stuff apparently.)

Hard to do that without an MRI.

It was the fact that they shoved all four MRI's together for a single session because of scheduling due to ****ing insurance bullshit. Four hours in the tube was a chore.

With about 50 minutes left, I got a cramp in my right leg, my lower back was on fire from laying on that ****ing plastic slab for three hours and my nose started itching. And the beauty of it is, you can't move or you **** up the whole MRI and they have to restart. I was out of my ****ing mind by the end of it.

[DaneMcCloud]

Originally Posted by Saccopoo

Oh, I know, but this was the first one post-op and they have to find out how much of the cancer cells are left after they pulled out the main meatwad mass. Also, as my tumor is a nerve cell based type, they need to find out if some of it has migrated into the spinal cord. (****ing awesome stuff apparently.)

Hard to do that without an MRI.

It was the fact that they shoved all four MRI's together for a single session because of scheduling due to ****ing insurance bullshit. Four hours in the tube was a chore.

With about 50 minutes left, I got a cramp in my right leg, my lower back was on fire from laying on that ****ing plastic slab for three hours and my nose started itching. And the beauty of it is, you can't move or you **** up the whole MRI and they have to restart. I was out of my ****ing mind by the end of it.

I had a biking accident in 2007 in which I tore an MCL and spent about 90 minutes in an MRI tube. I fell asleep.

I have a good friend that had breast cancer and a subsequent double mastectomy that spent nearly 3 hours, not once, but twice.

It sucks but hopefully that's the worst of it. Hang in there, Dude!