The Peapod and the Empty Nest

My lovely doctors took some pictures for me and I thought, hey, I bet everyone would just love to see what the Peapod looked like! Now, if you have a weak stomach, don't look!

May 11 - Operation Peapod Extraction

This is the Peapod!! I have 2 photos, but need to find the photos and re-scan them! About an inch in diameter, the size of a golf ball. Since the upper right of the Peapod was edged up against the "side wall" of it's 'nest' (the cavity for lack of better words), and because Dr. Sullivan was very set on getting 100% of the Peapod out, which I was in complete agreement with, he ended up causing the initial CSF leak. As I've said a few times, I'd take the leak over residual tumor any day! 

May 20 - Plugging the CSF Leak 

And here's the Empty Nest! This is the hole I now have in my head where the Peapod lived for the past 8-10+ years. Yeah, to me, looks like a big hole in my head... so I guess, next time someone asks me if I have a hole in my head - I can honestly say yes! I am interested to see what fills in the gap in the future... we'll see in my next MRI!

If you look closely, there is a black spot at the top center of the Empty Nest. That is the CSF leak - it's smaller than the top of a sewing pin (or the tip of a sharpened pencil) in actuality (the image is magnified). Crazy to think a hole that small can cause that much trouble!!

#acrofog lifted!

Correction.  Previously, I posted that I was not 100%  sure what the picture below was. I thought maybe fat graft, but maybe not. I emailed Dr. McKean and she responded! (She's my ENT). 

The image below is the mucus membrane graft covering the CSF hole that was plugged with my own belly fat. (And yes, I did ask that they take out more, as much as they could actually, but they refused)

And no, there will not be an alien worm that pops out of my body like in Aliens, so you are all stuck with me for quite some time - deal with it :) 

And for your viewing pleasure, here's a super short video of Dr. McKean (my ENT) poking around in my Empty Nest and getting the flap around my CSF Leak to get it to stop.