Member-only story
I just started a new strategy to heal my brain after surgery
It’s already starting to work
I was diagnosed with brain cancer a couple of months ago. First I had surgery. Then I had radiation. The illustration above is what that looks like — they stick you into this mask that they bolt down to the table so you can’t move. Then they stick you under the radiation for 30–45 minutes. And yeah, it’s about as pleasant as it sounds. The machine makes a variety of unpleasant noises, it’s incredibly hard to swallow because they stick a strap in your mouth, and I also had a hard time breathing. They had to provide me with an oxygen tube.
However, all of that is over now. The tumor has been taken from my brain. Unfortunately, they did what is standard medical procedure — they made sure to excise the margins. That means healthy brain cells were affected.
So far, I have managed to escape the plight of being a drooling vegetable, so I guess not a lot of healthy cells were taken. But I did notice I had balance issues. I have been using a rollater to walk because I don’t want to fall.
It’s a royal pain.
And of course there is the worry that I may not be as mentally sharp. For some reason, this disturbs me. After all, I’m a geek, I’ve always been a geek and I like being a geek. I don’t want to lose…
