Well at least I have a new story to tell now.

[Sam]

I was at the gym talking to some people when it seemed like I sneezed or something in the middle of a sentence and suddenly lost the ability to speak. My tongue and lips were all numb and shit. To be honest, it was bizarre and kind of funny at first. Then my face started going numb and it was less funny. Then my left arm went numb and it stopped being funny and so I went to the hospital. And so ended my 13 year doctorless streak.

At the hospital I was helped by a handy sign sitting on the admission desk describing the symptoms of a stroke. Pointing at that and then at me got me bumped right to the front of the line. Well, they did a CT scan of my noggin (at this point the symptoms had faded for the most part) and the good news was it probably wasn't a stroke, as there was no signs of bleeding or any blood clots. The not so good news was it was likely a seizure caused by the pretty good-sized tumor that was pressing against my brain.

So now I get to have brain surgery. Woo.

I tend to look on the bright side of the situation.

1. I found out I had perfect blood pressure, even when in the ER, thinking I was having a stroke.
2. I have the perfect excuse for absolutely anything. "Hey, lay off man, I have a brain tumor!"
3. I go from having no major medical encounters for 25 years and then jump right to brain surgery. That's pretty bad ass if I may say so.
4. You couldn't ask for a better icebreaker.
5. Once they slice the tumor out (I've named it Tim. Timmy if I'm feeling whimsical.) there'll be a golf ball-sized void. My brain will naturally expand into this space. I anticipate at least a couple dozen points jump in IQ, plus added agility and reduced reaction time. It's entirely possible I end up with ESP or some other super power.

I'm honestly pretty damn confident. Although big, it's a melingioma, which are almost always benign. Plus it's right at the surface so they don't have to go digging around in my brain to get at it. Just cut a hole in the skull, scoop it up, cauterize everything and sew everything back up. Plus my neurologist knows his shit, I live in a country with amazing medical facilities, and I'm alive at a time in which such a procedure is practically routine and I could leave the hospital as soon as a couple days after the surgery.

So yeah, that's what I've been up to.

(Ha ha ha, found the perfect icon. Though I guess "Weird" could have worked too)

[Lilaena De'Ville]

Oh my God.

:hug

Don't do anything this exciting ever again, you hear me?? >_< :ohno I'll be praying for you and your doctors.

[Chaz de Coventina]

Sam! :hugs

My god, man. When is your surgery scheduled for?

[Ilias Nytrau]

Braaaaaaains.:yum

That aside...

Good lord, man. I don't think I can handle the excitement. A golf ball in the brain? You really should stay away from golf courses.

Okay, seriously now: Thank goodness it's at the surface and that today's op-room zombies [read: neurosurgeons] know their shit. I'll have you on my brain as you have this blip dealt with, so you can keep being sexy. Excellent that you're positive. It looks good on you.

[Rutabaga]

Wow. Simply...wow. :eek

I'm a nurse, so I will probably be sharing this story with some co-workers, I hope you don't mind.

I'm sending many good thoughts and best wishes your way!!!! :hug

[Morgan Evanar]

Great googly moogly.

"Oh no problem I just sneezed and now I have a brain tumor."

[Taataani Meorrrei]

realtalk that sucks a whole lot, hope everything goes well with the fight. My mom and sis are both oncologists so I'll pick their brains (hurr) and see if they might have any advice since they treat cancer patients all the time.

loltalk have you gotten any super genius powers like John Travolta in Phenomenon yet?

[Jacinda Blake]

OMG I am going to be paranoid every time I sneeze now. :o


That's awful, but I am glad you are keeping on the bright side of the whole situation. I will keep you in my thoughts! :hug

[Droo]

That is quite a story. Take care of yourself, mate!

[Liam Jinn]

This is why I don't go to the gym.

Take care of yourself and make sure you keep us updated.

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

Dude. Good grief O_O You make me afraid to sneeze now.



:hug

[Mu Satach]

HOLY SNITZ!

Will be praying for you and the brain and those who will be poking at it.

[Yog]

This is a good example of why you should not sneeze at the gym.

With your positive attitude and the optimistic prognosis, I am confident you will make it through this. Best wishes for the surgery, and I hope for best possible recovery. :)

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

Are they gonna let you keep the tumor? Like, in a jar of formaldehyde or somesuch?

[General Dan]

Eat it. Then you become a daywalker zombie. Take pics!

[Sam]

Are they gonna let you keep the tumor? Like, in a jar of formaldehyde or somesuch?

I'm definitely going to request it, but I'm almost certain I know the answer will be "No". Those greedy bastards will take it and slice it apart and study it when *I* was the one who put forth all the effort growing it.

A shame, too. I was going to paste googly eyes on it and encase it in acrylic to make a paperweight. Though I do like the idea of a fomaldehyde-filled snow globe thing too.

in any case, thank you all, sincerely for all the prayers and good wishes. I've left little sympathy traps like this several places around the internet and I now think I need to figure out some way to harness this power. I need to build something to concentrate it so I can form hard light constructs like the Green Lantern.

[Crusader]

I wish you a successfull operation and a smooth recovery.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

Just bumping this up - Sam is having his surgery tomorrow on May 3rd.

[Polly Smithson]

I'll be thinking of you, buddy! :hugs

[Miranda Tarkin]

thoughts are with you Sam (hugs)

[Crusader]

I'll be thinking of Sam today.

[Droo]

Fingers crossed for you, mate.

[Mu Satach]

Praying all goes well today.

[Morgan Evanar]

Fingers crossed for you. Hope you can tell us you have a tumor sno globe soon.

[Karl Valten]

Good luck, Sam, we'll all be here when you get out of surgery.

[Tear]

Good luck Samwise

[Hera]

Good luck, Sam :hug x forcepower.

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

Good luck buddy, hope your recovery is swift :hug

[Liam Jinn]

Missed this. Hope everything went well :)

[Jane]

He was online yesterday - the surgery was a success! :)

[Park Kraken]

Yay! That's awesome news. Did they let him keep the tumor? Maybe he can take it on a vacation to Timor. :lol

[Polly Smithson]

Oh good! Glad to hear it, Sam! Don`t scare us like this again, okay, Not for a good few years, at least. :hug

[Lilaena De'Ville]

He posted a pic on Facebook, if you're FB friends with him.

And no, they didn't let him keep it. :p

[Sam]

I shall now reproduce said post without the typos. I think I was still a little out of it.

Who has two thumbs and no brain tumors in his skull anymore?

THIS guy.
http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc21/shellspark/photo.jpg


(No tumors is taken to mean >95% less tumor tissue the prior to surgery, but who wants disclaimer language muddling up status messages.)

I can't thank you folks enough for all the good will and crap. I can see now why people fake injuries for the attention. It's kind of an addictive feeling.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

Do you feel lighter? ;)

[Morgan Evanar]

Yes, but since you're for real, you won't get the incredible scorn a faker gets.

Glad you're still with us. :)

[Sam]

Do you feel lighter? ;)

Apparently the first thing I said upon waking was "Do I look thinner, I feel like I lost some weight."

I must have stored that one in the buffer before going under.

[Flux]

Do you feel lighter? ;)

Apparently the first thing I said upon waking was "Do I look thinner, I feel like I lost some weight."

I must have stored that one in the buffer before going under.
This made me laugh. :) I'm glad you're doing well, and that your sense of humor is intact.[/Zeke]

[Yog]

Great to hear you are ok! :)

[Karl Valten]

Hey! Glad to hear that the operation went a-okay.

[Dasquian Belargic]

Good job kicking ass :cool

[Tom Harriman]

Do you feel as if your head is tilting slightly to one side, now you've got less weight there?

Glad to hear it all went well! :D

[Peter McCoy]

Just awesome mate - so chuffed everything went well. That photo is awesome.

And I think this is appropriate...

<object height="390" width="480">


<embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ZHwVBirqD2s?fs=1&hl=en_GB&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="390" width="480"></object>

"Picking up the pieces of my life without you on my mind..." - that line is perfect!

:) :) :) :) :)