Read part 1 and 2 for more on this story.

After coming to grips with the fact I had a brain tumor, I had another thing to tackle: the thought of having potentially having brain surgery. I knew from research and from other people that had the same thing I did that surgery was the best option for me. Without it, I was risking another bleed, a stroke, or worse. It wasn’t a matter of if it would happen, it was a matter of when.

I ended up going to Emory in Atlanta to get a second opinion when the neurosurgeon i originally said he was just going to watch me. I didn’t feel comfortable with that and neither did my neurosurgeon in emory because he recommended surgery right away. The thought of having brain surgery terrified me but in the end it was my decision. Knowing how risky it would be not to have the surgery helped me decide to go ahead and go through with it.

Originally, He wanted to have the surgery as soon as possible but I delayed it due to wanting to finishing up that semester. Looking back, I should have just taken a medical leave from that semester because all I could think about during finals week was “I’m having brain surgery soon”. It was all I could focus on or think about. Having the extra weeks gave me time to prepare though and learn more about my surgery. As my surgery date got closer, I was still worried but knew what mostly to expect. I bought stuff for the surgery and after to prepare and distract myself.

The hospital gown I got came in handy as I was able to wear that instead of staying in the hospital gown they gave me which was not comfortable. The shirts I got opened up in the shoulders or buttoned up so that I didn’t have to lift them over my head. My sweet neighbor at the time gave me the headbands to cover any scars. I had to wait till later to wear them though because I didn’t want to risk an infection. If you are having brain or any other surgery, I highly recommend an eye mask and some ear plugs. Trust me, you’re gonna need them.

On the last night I had before I had to go to Atlanta to prepare for my surgery, my boyfriend took me to go see Guardians of the Galaxy vol 2 to distract me. As much as I enjoyed the movie, the thought of surgery still was in the back of my mind as I tried to make the most of the time. My neurosurgeon had assured me that everything would be fine but there was still this part of me that worried something would go wrong. I was beyond lucky that my brain bleed/seizure did not cause more damage then it did. I was worried that something would go wrong or I would wake up and forget everything. Thankfully, none of that happened.

With my surgery being at 7am, I was too tired to really worry. Before heading over to the hospital, I had to shower that morning with stuff from the hospital to prepare for surgery. When it was my time, they brought me back to put a gown and hair net on me as my family visited with me one last time before I had to be wheeled back to the surgery room. Laying there, I tried to stay calm and not panic. Not only was I about to have brain surgery, but I was about to go under for the first time and have my first surgery. Thankfully, they gave me some anti-anxiety medicine through my IV in order to calm my nerves. They had to make a cut in order to put the IV in because of how big it was. After that, I felt a lot more relaxed and not as nervous for the surgery. Without telling me, they gave me the anesthesia before wheeling me to the surgery room. The last thing I remember is the door opening and seeing the overhead lights.

When my surgery was over and I was in the recovery room with the other patients, I was beyond confused. I woke up to someone saying “Mr. Potter? Mr. Potter breath. I need you to breath”. I didn’t realize I had gotten out of surgery until I felt the gauze on my head and was able to come to my senses about where I was. When I was fully aware, my family was able to come in one at a time to see me. According to them, I had woken up before then without realizing. Pretty soon, I started to feel the pain. I like to think that I had a pretty high pain tolerance before this but nothing could have prepared me for this level of pain. After the morphine didn’t work for me, I was given something else to help ease the symptoms. It still felt like a 7/8 but at least I didn’t feel like I was going to pass out so there was that.

In my 4th and final part, I’ll be talking about what life is like after brain surgery. Be sure to check back for that and more coming soon to the blog.