Now, it is pretty easy to think of the worst things about a brain tumor, but what are the best things? For one, it is benign, which means it is not cancer and once it's out, it won't come back. Also, her symptoms delayed long enough for them to have health insurance to cover the costs of her surgery. She has world-class surgeons. And finally, although she will lose her hearing in that ear, that might be the only consequence that she will have to deal with long term.
The worst thing, of course, is that there are always risks with any surgery, let alone brain surgery. We try not to dwell on the worst case scenarios, because it makes dealing with this unbearable. Jaime is a very positive person. She is also very stubborn. Both of these qualities are coming in handy. She has named her tumor after a character, LSP, from the TV show Adventure Time. I know the "L" stands for lumpy and the "P" stands for princess, but I can't remember the "S". It makes it seem a lot less scary. She is going to dye her hair purple right before the surgery and has a Pinterest board with possible hair styles to make her partially shaved head right in style.
I am so proud of the way she is handling this diagnosis. Her surgery is the Monday after school gets out - another best thing since I will be available to help her 24/7.
For more information about her condition, see https://www.anausa.org/
