Decision Time

We had two meetings this week with two different surgeons.  The appointments were like night and day, very different - in approach and opinion.  That makes it very difficult for Stefan to make a decision on surgery - so we are going to enlist a third opinion. 

	surgeon #1 (Dr. C)	surgeon #2 (Dr. L)
length of meeting	15 minutes	1 hour
props	none	model of brain, both MRIs
opinion	no more surgery, just do radiation	70-80% of tumour can be removed with minimal risk
risks of surgery	- Stefan would be a vegetable who wouldn't know who I was (he used the word vegetable a lot)	- minimal - 1-2% chance infection (typical for any surgery) - minimal bleeding risk - 5-10% chance of some speech impairment (not so severe he couldn't communicate) - 25-30% chance of loss of vision in top right line of sight (already experience some loss here)
Rest of conversation	none	- explanation of both MRI's - explanation of the risk of having so much pressure on the brain - explanation of surgery (using MRI to map where they are cutting) - not doing surgery now would not close the door to surgery, could do radiation and surgery at a later date (but recommendation is for surgery now by both Dr. L and Dr. M)

Stefan is understandably worried about the risks.  But - we are also thinking long term.  We want Stefan around - and want to take the steps to keep him around as long as possible.

Right now we are most likely going to go with surgery as the next step.  But - we will enlist a third opinion - and hope that the third surgeon's opinion is in line with Dr. L.  Once we decide on surgery - it would take place probably within the month.