Brain Surgery: How it Changed My Life for the Better

A little over a year ago, I was lying on a gurney under the skilled hands of a neurosurgeon. He was performing a craniotomy. Simply put, I was having brain surgery to remove a brain tumor that had been discovered after a decade of growth.

What a ride I had been on! All that had preceded this day was a series of diagnosis, testing, second opinions, and decision making. Words that had been extraordinary had become a part of my everyday ordinary life.

Words like 'last will and testament' 'recuperation period,' ' after effects'. All of these had become a daily part of my conversation. It was not a good time.

However, I did survive my brain surgery. Quite well, actually. In the beginning I had visual problems, my right field of vision was off and I was quite weak. ( Most people that have their head drilled into and put back on have this challenge). And, I just was plain exuberant!

Here are the seven extraordinary ways that brain surgery changed my life.

1) No more hindsight: For unknown reasons I no longer regret the past, ruminate about all the things I have done wrong in my life, or think about how I could have done better. The past is absolutely the past.

2) I decline to live in my illness. Instead of doing a lot of reflecting and writing about the diagnosis and surgery, I gave it its due, and then directly turned forward. Life is clearer. Little things are little things.

3) I find that I am more patient with big projects and less patient with nonsensical events.

4) I don't worry about every little bump and knock in my physical motor. When I told a friend that, she were surprised. She said she thought I would be more concerned about various aches and pains. Nope, not at all.

5) I found a cause bigger than myself and am using every bit of my skills and talents to portray it in a way that is understandable, humorous, and significant. I know that I have been filled with grace.

6) I don't care about how clean my house is- it's livable and so am I.

7) Most importantly, I have become brutally honest, with kindness, than ever before. I don't mean with others, although I do find that I can be scathingly direct! I mean with myself.

A little over a year ago, I had to look in the mirror and realize that I might never be able to write again, see again, or breathe again. As I said before, my life has been filled with grace.