The Prognosis

A whole weekend had passed since I found out that I had a tumor. I spent majority of that weekend, wondering what was going on, what my outcome was going to be, and even though people told me not to . . . I "googled". My family got together at my oldest sister's house on the Sunday, and over a cup of tea we had a little "pow-wow" where we gathered up information about my tumor and made a list of questions that we had for the Neurosurgeon. We also got in contact with a few of our Dr. friends and asked them if they could recommend any questions or concerns that we should bring up when we saw the Surgeon.

On Monday February 24th, dear husband and I headed to Toronto Western Hospital, which is one of the world's leading Hospitals in Neuroscience - so grateful to have such a top ranking hospital in my own 'backyard'. As we walked into the hospital, there were a ton of people in the main foyer, and a lot of these people were old, I was probably one of the youngest people in there. Many people were in wheel chairs, had walkers, canes, etc. I'm not old, I'm young, and healthy, and can walk perfectly fine, I am not supposed to be here - was my first initial thought. Across the foyer there was a little Sushi Bar, and I told Keenan that no mater what, I wanted to eat some rolls before we left the Hospital. We went up to the 4th floor where I was to register for my appointment. As Keenan and I sat down in the waiting area, there were patients all around waiting to be seen. I'm not sure what these other patients appointments were for, but I take it a spinal cord tumor trumps all because I was called in soon after we sat down.
Keenan and I waited and waited and waited some more in the examining room for a good 20-30 minutes until finally a resident came in to let us know that the Dr. was almost finished up in surgery. I'm not sure if you have caught on or not but I have yet to mention any of my Dr.'s names. I am not quite sure what the 'rules' of blogging are and disclosing peoples names without their permission, so until I get my Dr.s' approval to revel their identity, I am going to continue to keep their names anonymous.
While Dr. "Top Dog" was still in surgery, the resident got my back-story and started doing some tests on me. She took a pin and started pricking my body, my arms, thighs, legs, and feet to see if I could feel it - um ya, you are pricking me with a pin, of course I could feel it! I did however notice that the sensation of the pricks in the left side of my body weren't as sharp as the right. she continued to do some more testing on me including the Hoffman test - the same one that was done by the previous Dr. but this time I didn't react to it at all ( that's a really good thing). Once she was done poking at me and scraping the bottoms of my feet with the top of her pen (yes she did that too), she asked me to come out into the hallway to go for a walk. Unless you are on the runway on the set of America's next top model I never knew that the simple act of walking could feel so intimidating. She asked me to walk back and forth in the hallway, I had to walk backwards and sides ways, and then she asked me to walk as if I was walking on a tight rope with one foot directly in front of the other ( the heel of my front foot had to be touching the tip of my big toe of my back foot). I did that with flying colours, but then in the midst of my walking on a type rope, without any warning she said "Okay keep walking but now close your eyes'", so I did . . . yup, I completely lost my balance and had to reach out and catch myself on the wall beside me. After you are done reading this, I want you to go try it - it's not as easy as it sounds. Another symptom of a SCT is that it can throw off your balance, so I guess it's starting to slowly take effect on me -well at least it is while I'm on a tight rope with my eyes closed ;).
After all my tests were done and we waited a little longer the Neurosurgeon finally came in. Knowing how Amazingly smart and "God-like" this man was, I felt extremely nervous to talk to him. But he too had a pretty calm presence to him.
This guy went straight to the hardcore facts, explaining what the tumor was, where it was located, what the nerves do that are located in that area, and what he was going to do about it. I was hoping he would  say we could do a 'wait and watch' approach, but  he didn't, he said the words that I had a feeling that I was going to hear -"SURGERY". "Your tumor will need to be surgically removed, if left to grow in your spinal cord there will be a 99% chance that you will eventually become paralyzed" is what he told us. He briefly went over all of the risks that come with the surgery ( as all doctors have to do), one of the risks included was that there is a 5% chance that I can be completely paralyzed from the neck down and be dependent on a ventilator. He quickly covered what to expect once the surgery is over and what will happen in the weeks to follow. Once we get my surgery date set, we will have a pre-op meeting where I will get in depth details about the surgery itself and the outcome. He said the "good thing" about these tumors is that they are very slow growing, so we have time on our hands. That being said he ordered me another MRI, which is scheduled for April 24th. From there we will see if there has been any changes to the Tumor ( hopefully for the better) and that will determine when my surgery will be. In total I think the Doc was with us for 10-15 minutes and then just like that he was off to save someone's life. When he walked out that door I felt extremely grateful for this man, he was so confident about everything he explained to us, he didn't think twice that he couldn't perform the surgery, he was so sure about everything! Keenan and I left the 4th floor both a little taken back by all the information that was just dumped onto our shoulders. I'm not sure what was going through Keenan's mind, but all I wanted to do was cry, I needed to break down, I was so strong for the entire weekend only having little mini crying sessions here and there, but I was ready, I needed to get it all out. But I didn't, I couldn't, I didn't want to cry in the hospital, so I stayed strong for a little while longer. Keenan asked me if I just wanted to go home, but I didn't yet, I was hungry and I really wanted that Sushi. So the both of us sat down. I held back tears, Keenan held my hand and we ate our sushi in silence only exchanging a few words to each other, knowing that if we said too much it would bring on the tears.

That night when everyone in the house was tucked into bed. I curled up into my husbands arms and finally broke down, I broke down in the way that I needed to break down. I cried in a way that I've never cried before. I was mourning my life. Life as I knew it would be forever changed. Even if I make a full recovery ( which I completely intend to do) I will never have the same life again, it was like a little part of me had died. I needed that time to feel sorry for myself, to be mad, sad, and upset.
I needed to ask why this was happening to me - I think the only person who can answer that question is me - I will create the answer to the reason why out of a million people I was the one who was diagnosed with this Tumor. The answer hasn't come to me yet, but I am slowly answering it as the days go on. Since discovering I had a SCT I have not taken one single day for granted, I appreciate my husband and all he does for me and my children that much more than I already had, and I tell him and show him how much I love and appreciate him everyday. I have taken charge of my health, eating healthier, taking vitamins, homeopathic remedies, and started yoga. I've become closer to cousins, aunts and uncles. I have an even stronger bond with my friends. Every opportunity I can, I tell my loved ones that I love them. I continue to be blessed by the love and support from my parents, siblings, and in-laws everyday. I hug my children more, kiss them more, and tell them and show them how much they are loved . Every night before I put my youngest to sleep, I say "thank you for saving mommy's life". Above all I appreciate life and all the wonderful things it has to offer more so than I ever have before.
 In an odd way, I believe I have been given a rare gift, the gift that something serious has happened to me but with no significant risks of dying. I hope I can use this gift to make a small impact on peoples lives.
I have the power ... "What this power is I cannot say; all I know is that it exists" - Alexander Graham Bell. 

Neurosurgeons - a spinal cord tumor's worst nightmare (post #4)

On Friday Feb. 21. 2014 My husband and I woke up bright and early to get ready to head downtown (Toronto) to meet with the Neurosurgeon that I had been referred to the day before. We said goodbye to our four kids and to my mom who was watching them for us. Since we left the house around 8 am we beat majority of the morning traffic which there was unusally less of that day. Keenan ( my husband) half-jokingly said " I bet a lot of people took the day off work to watch the the Canada vs. USA hocking game". Canadians do love their hockey, so I wouldn't be surprised if that was actually the case.
 Getting to the Doctor's office a little early, hubby and I took a walk down the street to get ourselves a coffee at the 'On the Run' Tim Horton's. As we were in line with all the other zombies waiting to get their morning 'fix' I noticed that the lotto max was for $50 million.  Wanting to buy a ticket, but not wanting to ask my husband for $10, I said, "oooo look, lotto max is for fifty-million dollars this week" and because he knows me oh-so-well he reached into his wallet pulling out Sir John A. Macdonald (for those of you non-canadians SJAM was the first Prime Minister of Canada and is also the face on our ten dollar bill). Keenan held our spot in the Timmy's line and I headed over to buy us what I was hoping to be the winning ticket - I'm sure the guy behind me who was also buying a ticket was hoping the same thing. I signed it right then and there and walked back to my husband who had only moved about a foot in the line. Not knowing exactly what my diagnosis was, but after doing some "googling"and having a good sense of what the mass could be, I gave my husband a witty smile and said "wouldn't this make for a great headline - "woman buys the winning lottery ticket the same day she finds out she has a tumor". I'm sure the other customers in line heard what I said, but I didn't care, even if it was just for a minute I wanted them to feel sorry for me, because in that moment I was scared and was feeling sorry for myself. With Keenan's large black coffee, my medium French Vanilla and two muffins in hand we headed back to the office building where we had about 20 minutes to kill before we were seen by the Neurosurgeon.

After registering with the receptionist Keenan and I sat down to wait. Waiting in a Dr.'s office is never fun, especially when you are waiting to here life altering news. As I sat there thinking about what was going on and seeing other patients in the waiting room with crutches, canes and bandaged wounds I had an overwhelming urge to cry, I told Keenan I needed to go the washroom and B-lined for it before anyone could see my eyes welling up with tears. Thankfully it was just a one toilet washroom so no one else could come in and see me crying. As I stood in front of the mirror staring at my reflection, tears slowly trickling down my face, I tried to tell myself that everything was going to be O.K and that everything happens for a reason. After grabbing some toilet paper to wiped my eyes - which looked extremely green with it's contrasting colour 'red' surrounding them, I took some deep breaths and headed back to the waiting room. I'm not sure if my husband noticed my red puffy eyes or not, but if he did, he knew not to say anything because I probably would have started to cry again. "Eileen Rogers-Coughlin" - I hate when my name gets called out in public, no matter what the situation is, I always get a nervous feeling in the pit of my stomach like I had just done something wrong and I was getting in trouble. The neurologist's assistant, a  good looking hipster, young guy dressed in nice slacks a light plaid shirt with suspenders and thick black plastic rimmed glasses (he could totally pass for an actor from 'Glee') escorted us to an examining room where again we were asked to wait until the Doctor was ready to see us.
With a fast paced heart beat and slow deep breaths, I clutched onto my husband's hand who reassured me that everything was going to be okay and whatever 'this' was we were going to get through it together. The Neurologist stepped into the room closing the door behind him and greeted us with a smile and a hand shake. I was surprised as to how young this guy looked, he looked not too much older than my husband - see what I did there ? - I said " not too much older than my HUSBAND", my husband is four years older than I am, so this doctor probably had a good 7 years on me ;).  The doctor himself even made reference to the fact that he looks so young and jokingly said that he's not only a neurosurgeon but that he does plastic surgery as well- ha ha ha. This guys was relaxed and as calm as a cucumber, dressed in a pair of jeans and a hoodie that looked like it had been through the dryer one too many times. He had a very  relaxed and healing vibe to him, to be honest, just his presence gave me a sense of calm, I felt like we were hanging out with one of our friends and not a doctor. After asking me a few questions and hearing my story about how my son sent me to the ER, and explaining any minimal symptoms that I had over the past years, he asked me to get up onto the examining table. He tried to recreate a similar (but without the pain)  reaction that I had when my son jolted my neck. He asked me to stick out my hands palm side down. He started to do The Hoffman's reflex test on me, which is a test that involves tapping the nail or flicking the terminal phalanx of the middle ring finger. A positive response is seen when the thumb flexes. A positive Hoffman's reflex indicates an upper motor neuron leasion or pyramidal sign ( I totally just "googled" that). Not knowing what he was doing exactly and after he tried to preform the test on me at least a dozen times, my body only had one minor reaction to it -  not so good that I reacted to it, but good that it only happened once. He asked me to sit back down beside my husband before he broke the news to us about what was going on in my body. On his Ipad he pulled up an MRI of what a Spinal cord is supposed to look like ...

  And then he pulled up mine . . .

Though I wouldn't allow myself to show it on my face, other than my eyes widening a bit, shear panic radiated through my body - Thinking to myself "OMG, this is not good, this is not good at all".

The doctor was explaining to us what everything was, and that this tumor could be either an astrosytoma or an ependymoma. He was amazed that I had very little symptoms considering how much space it was taking up in my spinal cord. From that point on, my husband was documenting everything the doctor was saying and I was just trying to wrap my head around what was actually going on and wondering if this was for real, or if perhaps they got the scans mixed up and that it wasn't really my scan ( even though my name was in the top left corner). I felt like I was in a dream, was this really happening to me? What does it all mean, is it going to kill me, I can't die - I have so much to live for, I have four children, two of them still practically babies, why was this happening to me, - so many thoughts were going on in my mind all in the while that the doctor was trying to explain everything to us.  As he pointed out the tumor and the two cysts he kept on saying you are a "serious case", this is a very "special case" - special!? - there is nothing special about this. The Doctor went on to explain that this has probably been in my spinal cord very slowly growing for years. He told us that it is most likely benign as a majority of SCT are. He explained to us that there could be a few options for my case. Take on the 'wait and watch' approach, try to go in and drain the cysts, or remove some of my spinal column to allow for more space for the Tumor to grow. The only option there that I felt comfortable with was the "wait and watch" approach.

Because this Neurosurgeon  particularly specializes in spinal cord surgeries mainly due to sports injuries, he admitted to us that he was not able to take on my case as he wouldn't know what the best prognosis for me would be. However, he knew a Neurosurgeon at Toronto Western Hospital ( who he actually trained under ) that would be able to take me on. He continued to praise this neurosurgeon like he was a God. " He is the Top of the Top" he kept saying, "one of the best neurosurgeons there is!" Apparently he even treated Sidney Crosby's concussion when Sid was down for the count a few years ago - Coincidentally enough, as I was learning that I would have the same doctor as Sidney Crosby, in that very moment perhaps "Sid-the-kid" was lacing up his skates about to get on the ice to play in the Semi-Final Olympic hockey game in Sochi.  

While we were in the examining room the Dr. paused for a minute and said " I'm going to do something for you guys right now". He picked up the phone and got a hold of the Specialist that would take me on as a patient. My case was presented over speaker and the Dr. on the other end responded with " Oh ... Oh Wow, Ummm, I can see her on Monday at 11:00am in-between surgeries", and just like that another favour was done on my behalf. Instead of having a lunch break or having a rest between surgeries, this Dr. agreed to see me. Though his response made me a little more than nervous I was glad that he would be able to see me, and not to mention so soon. Later we would find out that it is normally a 7month-year wait to see this guy, and people from all around the globe come to see him. 

My husband and I left the office with a good grasp of what my diagnosis was. I didn't say much on the car ride home, but could only think 'why me', what did I do to deserve this, was I being punished? I remembered praying to my Papa (grandfather) who passed away 5 years ago, to please watch over me and make sure that I will be okay. Just the other day I remembered a dream that I had about my Papa soon after he died - I was in an olympic size pool doing laps but could no longer kick my legs, my Papa swooped down from heaven, grabbed hold of me and pushed me through the water across the finish line to safety - was this more than just a dream, was it some sort of prediction of my future? I don't know? But what I do know is that my Papa, along with other loved ones who have passed away are all watching over me, and will help me to cross the finish line at the end of this journey...

Oh and just for the record, I didn't win the lottery ;)

"Somebody call 911, Shawty fire burning on the dance floor, woah" (post #3)

So how does one discover that they have a spinal cord tumor? In many cases people with spinal cord tumors can go undiagnosed for years. They can also be misdiagnosed with other conditions which are caused by minor symptoms from the tumor. When someone finally discovers that they have a spinal cord tumor it is usually because their symptoms have become pretty sever - pins and needles in their extremities, numbness in hands and feet, lose of balance, inability to walk,  and a hard time breathing -just to name a few.
However, that isn't the case for me. Mine was discovered by my youngest child Desmond  (1.5 yrs old at the time), who I now like to call my earth Angel.

Side note: Soon after I had my daughter Michaela ( just over 6 months after she was born) I became pregnant with Desmond; because there is only a 5% chance of becoming pregnant before your menstrual cycle returns after having a newborn ( sorry tmi, I know, but it makes for a good story), and the fact that I was breastfeeding my daughter around the clock ( which can also cause your menstrual cycle to stop), I knew that this baby growing inside me was a true miracle and was definitely meant to be here. And now we know why - to save my life.  I guess in a way I can say I gave birth to my guardian angel.

Let me take you back to mid Nov. of 2013;  It was a week day and I had just gotten my older boys off to school, I was most likely still in my pajamas and had just finished making myself a cup of coffee. (Side note: that morning I couldn't find my hair elastic which usually sits on my bedside table waiting for me to put my hair up.) So with my thick mane of hair that sits just below my shoulders I plopped  onto the couch where my 1.5 year old son and almost 3 yr old daughter were cuddling watching TVO kids. Of course as soon as I sit down both my littles decide to use my lap as a trampoline, I put my precious coffee out of harms way in hopes that I can drink it sometime in the near future before it gets too cold. I go back to being a human trampoline, my daughter is soon distracted by the theme song of her favorite show "Paw Patrol" and assumes her position on the couch. Mr. Monkey on the other hand is climbing behind me on the couch being quite the little daredevil, he unexpectedly loses his balance and falls onto the couch, as he was falling he grabs hold of my hair to try to catch himself and to brace his fall, which in turn jolts my neck to the side causing a HUGE shock up my spine and into my head. A sensation of warmth and pins and needles rush to my face, I see stars floating before my eyes, I feel as though I am about to vomit. And the pain in my neck - oh the pain in my neck - it was excruciating, almost like a burning sensation! I have a pretty high tolerance for pain and this pain was right up there with natural childbirth, in fact, the yelling, moaning and crying I was doing could have easily been mistaken for someone pushing out an infant. The thought of calling 911 quickly crossed my mind, thinking that if I passed out at least an ambulance would be on its way and my kids would be safe. My little ones were so concerned and wanted to make sure I was okay, they were hugging and kissing me, trying to console me through my extreme discomfort. My natural fight or flight instinct kicked in and I could no longer stand still, all of a sudden I just started pacing around the house not knowing what to do next, clutching my neck the entire time. I ran to the toilet and threw-up, my head throbbing at this point. I grabbed my phone and went to lie down on the couch, forcing myself to calm down. I took some deep breaths and slowly the pain was starting to subside. I rested for about 5 minutes and the pain was disappearing even more, leaving me with  just a stiff neck, tingling in my right arm and a weird sensation on a patch of my scalp - like someone was plucking out individual hairs on my head. I called my oldest sister  and told her what had happened. I said I was going to call my husband because I thought I should probably go to the hospital to get checked out. I called my hubby and told him that I needed him to come home to take me to the ER. In about 45 mins my husband was home. What happened in the time that it took him to get home is all a blur to me, all I remember is being able to change out of my pj's, I think I even managed to get the kids dressed, got a diaper bag packed as well,  and somewhere in there I must have called my mom to let her know what happened and that we were dropping off the little ones at her house.

 Once at the hospital I had to explain my story to a few nurses and then finally to the doctor in triage. You have to admit it does sounds kind of ridiculous when a mother comes into the ER complaining of neck pain because her toddler pulled her hair. Normally you would think that an ER doctor may just give you some T3's, tell you to ice your neck and send you on your way - which is kind of what I was expecting. So I had to make sure that the Dr. knew exactly how severe my pain was and that on a scale from 1-10, 10 being the most painful that my discomfort was indeed a pretty strong 8-9, and initially started off as a 10. This doctor was amazing and was genuinely concerned for me. He ordered me a CT scan, started an IV line pumping me with fluids and a pain med (which didn't really help that much). The CT scan came back clear. He wrote me out a prescription for T3's and referred me to a neurologist who would preform an EMG test on me.

A week later when I went to see the neurologist, any major pain that I had from the initial injury was pretty much gone. An EMG test was done to see if I had any herniated discs and/or pinched nerves. For those of you who don't know what an EMG is, it is where they stick tiny little needles into your skin and send little shock waves to your nerves - think Dr. Ho. My EMG test was normal, but I still felt like something just wasn't right. For about 7 years I have been suffering from back pain and pain in my left shoulder blade and just recently some of the pain started radiating through my left arm. I asked the Dr. to check out my arm, and she did a manual test where she pressed on a nerve in my elbow and gently rubbed the tip of my pinky finger - my finger felt very tingly and a bit numb. She diagnosed me with a minor pinched nerve in my elbow - but we would later discover that the numbness was not due to a pinch nerve, or maybe it was, but a pinched nerve is now the least of my concerns. After reading over my case the head Neurologist decided that he wanted to send me for some MRI's just to be safe because he didn't like that I had tingling sensations in my face upon the initial injury. He reassured me that it was for a safety precaution and because I am a young mother he just wanted to rule anything else out, his exact words were, " I am sure everything will come back clear, and you will be perfectly fine". My MRI was booked for February 2014. So for the next three months I went on living my life as I normally did, with any pain from the incident completely gone.

 Fast Forward to Feb. 18 2014 the day of my MRI. I get placed into this giant tube that is extremely loud, I  was little nervous but the whole MRI experience wasn't all that bad. I will definitely need to do a blog dedicated to nothing but MRI's.
Two days later I get the call, a call that no one ever deserves to get, and I hope that none of you will ever get this call in the future, but unfortunately I don't think that will be the case. At least one of you will get a similar call to the one  that I got at some point in your lifetime. So if and when you do get this call, think of me, hopefully I can bring you some comfort. "We need you to come in as soon as possible to discuss your MRI results" was what the Dr. said to me. That. Was. It.  That is all he was allowed to say over the phone. As I clicked 'End' on my phone tears streamed down my face, about a dozen worst case scenarios played in my head, my life was flashing before my eyes, I asked  myself "am I going to die?". I called my husband at work sobbing and trying my hardest to repeat to him what the doctor had just told me. My husband and I agreed to meet at my parents house and would go together with my mom to the hospital. I called my oldest sister, who is someone I look up to and admire dearly - whenever my siblings and I have problems she is usually the first person we call. She calmed me down a bit and gave me some  'good' scenarios that may be the reason why the Dr. called me in. I also called my youngest sister who is a nurse, she also reassured me that everything was going to be OK and that there was probably nothing too serious to worry about ( even though I didn't believe her, it helped to hear those words). She came over and watched the kids.

As I was driving to the hospital I could feel myself shaking, repeating in my head that when you get a call from the doctor to come in right away, you know something is wrong, something is really, really wrong.
My husband was already at my parents house when I got there, we grabbed my mom and headed over to the hospital. We waited for what felt like forever, but I think it was only about 10 minutes before I was called in. The doctors did another EMG test on me, I'm not sure why exactly, but I didn't ask - they know what they're doing. My husband and I were brought into an office ( my mom was waiting out in the waiting room)  where we were asked to wait, we were told that the Neurologist would be with us soon to discuss the MRI results. I was feeling very nervous at this point but extremely grateful that my husband was able to get off of work to come and be with me, and that I had my mom just waiting outside for me.
The Dr. - a very nice looking Italian man, very well groomed with some very expensive clothing on came into the office, he was the doctor who ordered the MRI. He made some quick small talk, asked me how I was doing and if I had any more pain, I told him that all the pain from the injury with my son was gone. He began his speech with reassurance that my son did not cause any damage to my neck, " if anything the accident was a blessing in disguise" is what he said.  "We found something on your MRI scan". A "mass" was discovered inside my spinal cord, though I think he probably knew what it was, he said  he wasn't exactly sure and that he could not take on my case. He set up an appointment for me to go see a neurosurgeon the very next day. If I was to get the appointment through the health care system I would have had to wait about 7 months to be seen. But because I had a kind and compassionate Doctor looking out for me, he called in a favour and was able to get me seen the very next day. Everything that happened when my son pulled my hair made a little bit more sense, whatever this "mass' was in my spinal cord  must have  had a bad reaction  to the neck jolt, compressing my nerves, causing all of the pain symptoms.

Leaving the hospital  that day I wasn't too sure what to make of the news of this "mass" in my spinal cord. A "mass" could be anything! On top of that we are dealing with the spinal cord which is pretty serious in itself. Though I didn't really fell like I knew what was going on, I was happy to know that I wasn't going to die and like 'they' say -"it could always be worse".

 I would find out the very next day that the "mass" was indeed a Tumor.


-Eileen

Spinal Cord Tumor Assosiation (post #2)

To familiarize yourself with Spinal cord tumors here is a good website that can give you a little more information...

http://www.spinalcordtumor.org/

Introducing Me! ( post #1)

This is me.        

I am a 30 year old mother to 4 beautiful children (3 boys and 1 girl). I have been happily married to my husband for almost 5 years now. I come from a loving family of 7 siblings. 

I look pretty normal, healthy, and happy wouldn't you think?

Now take another look at me...

with some uninvited guests.

This  cool dude hipster circled in red and his crew (cysts) took residence inside my spinal cord a couple of years ago and started to grow. How many years ago you ask? I'm not too sure to be exact, but in hindsight about 7 years ago I started having pain/discomfort in my left shoulder blade, which is one of the symptoms that this little bugger creates. The pain, along with some other  (new and old) minor symptoms have been with me on and off ever since. 

"It's not a Toomah" - well actually yes it is, known to the medical world as a Intramedullary Ependymoma, a Intrama-Ependa-what-a? Yup say that one 5 times fast! To me he is a big nuisance who now that I know about is interfering with my life - sorry hipster, if you aren't going to shrink yourself, and your pals aren't going to naturally drain themselves then you guys have got to go. I know if it were up to you you'd probably grow bigger in my nice cozy warm spinal cord eventually leaving me to be paralyzed. Or perhaps you'd make your way further up into my brain and call that your new residence. But, since we caught you when we did, you no longer have the opportunity to grow because you are going to be evicted. Unfortunately he won't go easily, HOURS of  invasive surgery is the only way to get him out!

So to all of my friends and family ( friends of friends, friends of family, and complete strangers who are really just friends I haven't met yet) join me for the next few weeks/months as I prep myself mentally and physically for a journey that I never thought I would ever have to embark on.