My brain surgery was 8 weeks ago.
A lot to catch you up on. And at the same time, not that much!
Yes I’ve had TWO follow-up visits with my surgeon. And I also am feeling totally fine! I told my therapist this week that my brain surgery seems no more serious than a scraped knee at this point.
But that’s probably because I’m on the other side of it!
(I got a card from my brother today and he reminded me that I’d told him, soon after my surgery: “Everything’s good!”)
Before the surgery, part of me wasn’t even sure I’d make it through. I wasn’t really making any plans for after. And then the surgery happened, and it went fine!
The worst part was the hospital stay and how incredibly hard I had to work to advocate for myself to have my needs met. Receive all my medications and at the right dosing! Get food that met my dietary needs. And not have my vocal cord dysfunction triggered. I literally had instructions for all these things written out and gave a copy to the hospital staff. And it was still a struggle to have them meet my needs.
But I got myself out of there in just 2.5 days (so only 2 nights), and once I was home I could get back into my routine.
Post-op visit 1: 10/30/25
I got my sutures and staple removed. That part was easy! I also found out my tumor was indeed a meningioma per the pathology report. And it was a WHO Grade 1. Meaning lowest risk!!! Once removed, it measured 2.6 x 2.6 x 1.3 cm. So a couple mm smaller than estimated on MRI, but still way bigger than I wanted something hanging out in my brain to be!! 🧠
Confirmation that it was indeed a meningioma:
And the pathologist’s description of the mass:
What left me very disappointed and not motivated to even write a blog post was the follow-up plans. It turns out that I will need a 3 month follow-up MRI, to confirm they got everything out. Ok. Fine. I actually called the MRI place and scheduled it for the end of this month.
But then I also learned that I will need a follow-up MRI one year from this one. And then if that one is fine I get to go to MRIs every 2 years. And the way the PA presented that news, it seemed like that was some sort of an achievement: Yay brain MRIs every 2 years instead of every year!
Meanwhile, silly, innocent Katya had thought: I just had brain surgery to remove this mass. How are we not done with this chapter in my life? How is this particular health issue not all done, taken care of, ready to move on, what’s next?? No. I get to have routine follow-up MRIs to track it. Yes my partner pointed out that anytime you have a tumor discovered in your body they tend to like to do follow-ups. But this thing is benign! It’s a WHO Grade 1!!
So I was really bummed out after that visit. I didn’t even have the motivation to update you with a blog post.
Post-op visit 2: 12/2/25
This one went way better. I had no high hopes or expectations. This would be my first time seeing my surgeon since the surgery. Yeah I was pretty surprised that he didn’t come check on me a single time in the hospital. The only person from the surgical team who checked on me was one of the PAs. And she was lovely! But still, I wanted at least a visit from the surgeon. Last Tuesday I saw the 2nd PA who helped with my surgery. She was great too!
I got to ask her about the numbness on my scalp. Apparently that can take anywhere from a few months to years to never to resolve. Which I had also found out in my first post-op visit, but this was confirming it.
An exciting new tidbit I gained was information on the titanium plate in my head. I thought it was one giant plate that covered the whole area where they had cut a piece of my skull out. No! It turns out it’s just some mini plates. I had the PA draw me a picture of what the plates in my head looked like. They used 2 different kinds of plates. And they used titanium screws to attach the plates to my skull.
I may update this post later with links to the company that manufactured those plates. I know the name of the company because I downloaded an itemized bill and got details about every single piece of hardware and drug and chemical they put into me. Because if you’re gonna bill insurance for it, it’s gotta have a line item on the itemized bill. I love itemized bills. Maybe I’ll do a separate blog post about how fun itemized bills are. And all of you can have the option of skipping that post. It can be just for me and any of my readers who also love the joy of itemized bills. 😄
I had also been under the distinct impression that the holes in my skull that they had to drill in order to have an entry point to put in the saw they used to fully cut out the opening, would eventually regrow.
Turns out I was wrong. While there is a chance that bone could regrow it’s also equally likely it won’t. And that’s why they put those titanium plates over those holes.
So I got a gift of some lovely sayings from my visit:
I have a hole in my head!!!
But not a screw loose!!
(We hope! 😂)
After I met with the PA, I had a brief check-in with the surgeon. It was nice to see him again. We chatted about things that have improved since the surgery. That update will be a future post. Along with a funny pun I accidentally said.
Stay tuned… 😊
Sending love to all of you! 💜
Thanks for accompanying me on this journey!
May you be happy
May you be healthy
May you have peace
May you give and receive love and compassion
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