November 23rd, 2016.... the day before Thanksgiving.
I woke up and was just browsing the internet about 9:30 in the morning when Vickie came in my room and asked me a question. I don't remember what the question was but I do remember I had a problem answering it. I was suffering sudden Aphasia. I could understand language but I could not respond in speech. Attempts to talk were unsuccessful and continued be so. I thought I was suffering a stroke but there were no other symptoms. Words would not form. Only noises. Vickie left me to involve Christian in the problem. He came to record the event with his cell phone. I got mad. Stll couldn't talk. Frustrated. They took me to Northside Hospital Emergency Room in St. Petersburg.
When we got there I walked out of the truck by myself and tried to explain to the admitting agent what was wrong. I still could not talk. While Vickie parked the truck Chris had to explain why we were there. They immediately scheduled a CT scan and met with me afterwards.
The doctors, including Neurosurgeon Kirk Jobe, discovered a "large" mass on the left side of my brain. It was pressing on the portion of the brain that controls speech and I could only sputter gibberish for about three hours. After the CT Scan the doctors explained that such a condition might be caused by cancerous tumors in the lungs or intestines and put me in an MRI scan to look. Thankfully, nothing was found.
I was told the tumor was benign, growing slowly, only between the skull and brain, wide and thin. The process was started to operate.
Wednesday December 14th I was subjected to surgery to remove it, two days in the Intensive Care Unit and four more days in the hospital. Speech came and went numerous times. I could not recall my home phone number after 27 years. I suffered hallucinations but I pressed on by calling home (from a piece of paper given to me by the nurses) and reading a newspaper.
Doctors told me the lapse in memory was caused by swelling inside the cranium instead of loss of brain matter. The tumor was slow but not cancerous. I'm both lucky and unlucky.
I barely remember the next 24 hours in ICU with varied recollections of periods involving extreme emotions and odd sensations. I wasn't sure what was real and what was not. It was both curious, exciting and horrible.
On Friday December 16th I was "kicked out" of Intensive Care and moved to a regular hospital room. I was told this on or about December 19 just before I went home. I distincly remember being transported in a chair from ICU to the Northside Neurological wing. The chair did not go straight. It constantly pulled to the left against one small nurse by herself. She apologized all along the way to everyone we crossed in the hall, in the elevator, around corners... kept apologizing to me.
In my room I was designated a risk for falling and ordered to summon a nurse every time I needed the rest room. Automatic alarms went off whenever I moved out of the bed for any reason.
For the first day talking was not possible. My older brother called the room on Saturday December 17th and I tried to talk to him. I could not. A nurse was with me at the time and I handed her the phone. She spoke with my brother for a minute and told him I survived the operation and was healing quickly but not yet able to talk. The next day one of the doctors met with me and told me to move about without having to notify a nurse. Confusing.
Here's my roommate... Charles Worthington. I forced him to talk to me every day to speed up the process of my recovery. Charlie couldn't walk. In his youth he was injured in the wreck of a 1966 Mustang Fastback that slammed into a guardrail at 80 miles per hour and sent him through the windshield breaking his back in two places. He later received neck surgery that led to spinal problems and loss of feeling in his left side. He was in the midst of that down turn.
He was born in Gainsville, Florida and at one time owned his own tree-trimming business. After eleven years his partner bought him out for two million dollars but he never got any money due to his ex-wife and lawyers.
It took me three days to remember his name right but the exercise did help a lot! His mother is from Virginia which gave us even more to talk about. I am grateful to Charles for letting me use him selfishly. I wish I could have helped him.
At this point I'm not exactly sure what the doctors did to me and my brain. The scar is a huge half-moon shape covering the left half my head from which the tumor was removed. In two weeks I will followup with the neurosurgeon to find out how much cranium was removed and what was used to replace it. I think I may have a metal plate in my head. Right now I just don't know.
What is really important is that I feel no pain. I am amazed that the doctor can take so much matter from my skull and not leave any major problems (they are improving with a very good prognosis).
I happen to be a member of Virginia AM/FM/TV Group, a Central Virginia Radio/TV discussion board on Facebook. By coincidence while I was hospitalized for my brain damage Guy Spiller posted videos from 6-Teen, a Richmond teen dance music TV program. In the early seventies I directed the show with live local disc jockeys, dancers and guest musicians every Saturday afternoon. One Saturday our guests were BJ Thomas, the Classics IV, Gary Lewis and the Playboys and the Monkees. I claimed (on the board) the pressure of producing a live rock 'n roll television program using real local teenagers created a tumor in my brain still growing in 2016. Not true but I thought it was funny. The show lasted about four weeks live then went to recording when students stopped showing up. It was a copy of American Bandstand. Who knew I would later work directly with Dick Clark on the Home Shopping Network.
Here is my Neurosurgeon giving a talk about epilepsy....
Published on Feb 26, 2016
Dr. Jobe discusses surgery for epilepsy patients during the 2015 Epilepsy Symposium at Bayfront Health St. Petersburg.
2001 Silverado 1500 Extend Cab upgrade:
I need to make her know that I appreciate her in spite of or because of brain damage.