| It was April Fools day 2012 and I was sitting in Panera Bread working on some graduate school coursework in the morning. Gradually I began to realize that my hearing was changing, as was my vision, and slowly my left hand stopped working. I put my computer away to try the walk home to my apartment, and on the way my left leg stopped working as well. I more or less dragged myself to my apartment, and called for my roommates. By the time they came to me the left side of my body was beginning to shake out of control and I was getting more afraid. They rushed me to the emergency room, and once in a wheelchair in the parking lot I had a grand mal seizure. I remember the way my brain felt – like it was freezing. I thought I was dying. I woke up a day later in a different hospital surrounded by family. I underwent a series of imaging and learned that I had had a cavernous malformation hemorrhage in my right parietal lobe. They had detected other small ones in my brain as well. I learned that it was operable and was assured it was a safe route to take. So, the Christmas break right before my final semester of graduate school I had surgery to have the mass removed. I was ultimately glad I did it, but continued to suffer from seizures for a long time. Presently, I have been seizure free for 3 years after an inpatient monitoring study, but still feel my aura symptoms several times a week. I go through regular MRIs to keep an eye on the other masses, but for the most part it’s in the background of my life. I never would have asked to have this problem in my life, but it has ultimately enriched my perspective in an infinite number of ways. |