January 21

One Year Ago - Volume II
(strap in and get comfortable, this is another long one)

One year ago today, January 21, 2009, I checked into the UCLA Medical Center for what would be the 1st of 2 craniotomies.

It was actually a Monday, MLK Day 2008 (January 21). My mother, father, ATL and I arrived at the hospital around 6am and, since it was a holiday, the hospital lobby was empty. I checked in and was down in pre-op by around 7:15.

Since they were gonna cut open the left side of my head, they were gonna have to shave my head. So, the day before, my friend Kevin came over and gave me a mohawk, as I figured that I might as well have as much fun with this thing as I can, right? (thanks Kev!)

Anyway, so ATL and I are down in pre-op and it’s pretty quiet down there as well. At the time, I think there was only 1 other patient down there. Before the surgery, they stick me with the IVs and stuff and they mark the left side of my head with the word “YES,” because, according to the pre-op nurse, they have to mark my head to make sure that they operate on the correct part…awesome.

A few minutes later, the chief resident, Dr. Raifu, came down to introduce himself and go over the procedure and answer any questions. I ask him if my mohawk gave them enough room to cut, or if they will have to shave my head more. He said that it looked ok, but if they needed to shave more hair off, he’ll do his best to at least make it look decent. They ended up having to shave a bit more of my hair off, but, as he said he would, Dr. Raifu did what he could to save the mohawk. Thanks…

So…a few minutes later, I am wheeled out of pre-op and into the operating room. Interestingly enough, when I was wheeled out of the pre-op area into the operating room, I wasn't too scared. I was definitely nervous...but, looking back, the emptiness and calmness of the hospital and pre-op area really did a lot to help settle me, if that makes any sense.

I only remember a few things about the operating room:

- it was white and there were a lot of lights
- there were about 5-7 people moving around the room
- when they administered the anesthesia to me, they said to count down from 100
- I remember making it to 97…now, I’m sure that I was still conscious for a bit after I hit 97, but that is the last number I remember saying out loud

Hours later, I wake up in recovery and my head is wrapped heavily…which is to be expected, considering that my head was just cut open. I also remember that my nostrils were taped closed and I had a breathing tube down my throat, so it was a bit difficult to breathe when I regained consciousness. But once the tape and tube were removed, everything was fine…I was groggy initially, but it didn’t last very long (thankfully). The first thing I remember seeing was ATL standing next to me, which was quite a relief. When I saw her, the first thing I asked her was “Did they get it?”…and by “it” I was referring to the successful clipping of the aneurysm, to which she replied “No.”

Naturally, I thought she was joking, so I said “No really…did they get it?” and again, she said “No.”

Great...

So…once I was passed out on the operating table, Dr. Martin started the procedure by making an incision down the left side of my head just behind the hairline. He then removed a circular piece of my skull in order to get access to my brain. After removing the piece of skull, he found that my brain was, in fact, swelling, for whatever reason. The swelling made it difficult for him to get to the aneurysm. Per Dr. Martin, he could still get to the aneurysm and clip it, but at increased risk to me, so he decided to abort the operation at that point, let the swelling subside and give it another try later.

Uh…needless to say, I was a bit disappointed that they weren’t able to successfully complete the surgery. Dr. Martin decided to take the cautionary route and avoid any additional risk, which is a good thing, but my first reaction to hearing the news was “I gotta go through all of this again?”

So, the piece of my skull that he removed was placed into their freezer/safe thing where hospitals keep pieces of skull that they’ll need later and I hung out in ICU for a day or so before being sent to a regular room for the next few days.

Regarding the swelling, Dr. Martin believes that I had an adverse reaction to the anesthesia, which caused the swelling. He would obviously know more than I, so I believe him on this one.

When the bandages were removed from my head, i was able to see that the incision down the left side of my head was stapled closed…very frankenstein-ey.

As you can see from the picture above, Dr. Raifu had to shave a bit off of the front of the mohawk, making it off center, but what can you do?

After being monitored for a few days, I was able to go home on the 25th (I think) and waited to hear from Dr. Martin as to when the follow up surgery would happen.

So I got to hang out at home…taking meds, with a piece of my skull missing and with 53 staples running down the left side of my head…waiting to do it all over again.

Important Safety Tip #1: Do not have a cerebral aneurysm.

On a lighter note, in lieu of going into surgery again this year, ATL, Bords, Trini, Josh Dale's gf and I took Suzy and Dakota to the Dog Beach at the Belmont Shore. I'm sure that ATL will post pictures and blog about it at some point.