Suzanne Sutton
Brain Teasers (to keep brains healthy!)
From Suzanne
When my daughter first suggested this website, I was a bit hesitant at the thought of it all. She said it would be a way to go into this with a feeling of community, rather than alone. She was right. What a joy it has been, to start connecting with all of you, to have a way to send out the information in a short period of time, and have a way for people to keep updated without them worrying about calling Genevieve too much, etc...
Deciding
The decision to have the surgery was really a tough one. Since the tumor was found before any big symptoms, it was not easy to choose to undergo the risks of brain surgery. One neurosurgeon was strongly in favor of it, one was deadset against it and said I'd be nuts to remove it now. My neurologist was himself not sure, and suggested consulting a third. I had no idea second opinions could be so divergent! I told him, "do we decide on brain surgery on a tie break?!"
But I am awfully lucky that one of the neurosurgeons I consulted was Henry Brem at Johns Hopkins. It is hard to imagine a finer man, no less a finer doctor. As luck would have it, Genevieve was due to be in the east for a conference in Charlottesville, so she detoured to Maryland for a couple of days, and accompanied me to my second visit with Dr. Brem. Within five minutes of our hour plus meeting with him, we were both convinced beyond any doubt, that surgery was the right thing to do. He explained why the location of this tumor makes leaving it so risky. He didn't withhold the medical reasons for doing it - he made them understandable and clear. And he said, "for me to feel so strongly about removing it - when you are having no symptoms - I have to a) really believe it is the right thing to do, and b) believe that I can do it."
We talked about the surgery and the risks, and I smiled and said, "please don't take away my math."
Blessings
I know it sounds a bit goofy to begin a section headed "blessings," but I'm going to leave it, because I surely am. So blessed! They found this early. I have a glorious doctor at a glorious hospital, where they treat patients with care and respect, right down to the cafeteria workers. It is a tumor with defined boundaries, and most likely not malignant.
I have a daughter with a spirit that makes angels smile, and a heart that makes stars dance. And I have a community of all of you.
Sometimes I get scared and think I am nuts to be doing this, or to be doing this now, when the crops need planting, the blueberries need pruning, the books' pages are flowing, and I feel so good! But then I remember Dr. Brem's reasons, and think, okay, now.
Brains
I'll write to you when I can before, and as soon as I can after! I told Genny, "afterwords, after the surgery, when I come back to consciousness, all I want is to look at you and I'll know that I made it. And then, please give me a quadratic equation, a good hard one, and when I can solve it, oh man, then I'll know everything is okay."
I was thinking that my reward to myself after all of this is going to be a good hard math class, "the kind," I told her, "where you sit and lean over your textbook and stare and stare and struggle with it for hours until slowly, you start to get it." I got so excited at the thought, you can't imagine. Brains are amazing things. Love yours today!
