How I spent my fall vacation in beautiful Southern California

In which I have brain surgery and probably cough up a chunk of my own skull

It's been a crazy few days (understatement of the year? maaaaaybe). We landed in LA late Sunday night, checked into our hotel, slept. Monday I met my surgeon and underwent a whole slew of tests to prove that I was fit for surgery - including a physical, appointments with two cardiologists (I actually had to run on a treadmill while they did a EKG and heart ultrasound!) and the all-important pre-op eye exam (ummm... wf?!?). I was cleared for surgery (yay!), which took place early morning Tuesday. Post-surgery, I was in the hospital for 24 hours and have since been recovering happily at my hotel.

My surgeon was fabulous and awesome and seemed very pleased with the surgery and my recovery so far, as you can see from the smile on his face afterwards (will post picture soon). He found a clear tumor on the right side of the gland, which he removed with no complications or surprises. This was a HUGE relief, especially because when we went over my MRI, he showed us what he thought was "something suspicious" on the left side (in addition to the tumor on the right). We agreed that he would remove the right-sided tumor, but also peak around to the left to be sure there was no second tumor. He did and there wasn't. Phew.

I did have some post surgery excitement, when I got super sick with sudden onset nausea, headaches and horrendous muscle aches. It was INSANE. Think the transition phase of labor. Yeah! Some serious craziness! Anyhoo, I felt almost immediately better when the nurse gave me a big dose of dex (a fake form of cortisol, which for reasons I won't go into, is the bane of cushies everywhere), so we think it was a major post-op steroid crash. This is good news! Since my body is accustomed to too much cortisol, it makes sense that I would exhibit withdrawal symptoms when the source is removed. It really really sucked a lot, but gives me hope that my Cushing's has been cured.

Oooh and another moment of excitement occurred early Wednesday morning when I coughed up a small chip of something hard and bone-like, which I'm pretty sure was actually a tiny fragment of my own skull. It was more than a little freaky, but everyone assured me that it was normal and nothing to worry about. David says the surgeon missed a great opportunity for a joke when we showed it to him and he said something like: "Yeah, I know exactly what that is, nothing to worry about" but could have said: "Oh! I was wondering where I left that! Thanks!"

I met with my amazing endocrinologist last night (the Cushing's specialist to whom I initially traveled for testing). Wednesday nights are actually his normal office hours, so he was able to squeeze us in for a quick 15 minute appointment. So glad he was able, cuz it was super helpful. I got my hydrocortisone (longer-term replacement cortisol) dosage sorted out and he agreed that my post-op crash was a very good sign. And I thanked him in person. And got a picture with him. Yay!

So that's the scoop! I'm slowly recovering at my hotel. Tonight I have to do a "sleep study," during which I think they monitor my oxygen level overnight. Nothing like being all hooked up to machines to make for a restful night's sleep, eh? Bleah.

Tomorrow we head back to Oregon to be reunited with the chiddlers. They've been having a grand ol' time with my Dad, who flew out from Edmonton to hang out for the week. Sounds like he's been keeping them busy with all kinds of fun outings. When we spoke on the phone today, Micah told me about a trip to McDonalds where he ate chicken McNuggets and got Astroboy toys. Eli reported a trip to the airport where he got to touch a real plane. They probably won't be glad to see us ;)

David has been fabulous and amazing as per usual and I think we should all throw a party in his honor just as soon as I'm feeling better.