A Hopkins Holiday Adventure

We stopped all our holiday preparations this morning, and delivered Max to school early. We packed up the baby (and the tumor in my head) and headed to Johns Hopkins Hospital Department of Neurosurgery in downtown Baltimore, Maryland to meet the famous Dr. Gallia...


and to get the best Neurosurgery opinion in the world, on this crazy bone tumor above my eye:

(I found out I had this osteoma in October, on a typical appointment to the Lancaster ENT dr.)


Matt and Mimi were extra sweet together today, and I'm glad that Matt drove the whole way there and back and took the day to spend with me.


Yvonne was a great help to me, and took the day off of work to keep an eye on Mimi. I appreciate her and my sweet Uncle coming to be with me. They kept me laughing in the waiting room. We happily worked out what they could get my parents for Christmas, while I read the monitors in the waiting room that said things like "20 of our employees have won Nobel prizes." and "our generous patients help us develop the latest treatments in Neurosurgery."


(Dr. Gallia was impressively tall!) He said that my tumor is moderate in size. He wants me to locate a CT scan I had in 1999, so that we can compare it to our current one. If it wasn't there 12 yrs ago he noted it should probably be removed. (i remember seeing a pre-sinus surgery scan in '99...and I don't recall a tumor being there! we shall see...) Otherwise, I am to be rescanned in a year- as Dr. Gallia said CT scans give you a bit of radiation, so you don't want to overdo them. I also need to go back to Hopkins and meet with an ENT doctor there to have my other sinus issues evaluated. He said that the tumor is something I DO need to worry about during my lifetime, and is something that if I choose NOT to remove, is something that needs monitored.
He told me that he could remove most of it with an endoscope (it requires a drill), but he would need to remove the top section of it, by cutting along my inner eyebrow.
Afterwards we had lunch at Germano's in Little Italy. A treat from my Uncle and Yvonne. Here's Mimi with noodles and olive oil. Really good olive oil:) Germano's is famous for their beet raviolis.

and of course we popped into Whole Foods. Lancaster needs a Whole Foods.

all decked out for Christmas.


we took a little stroll and walked to the harbor. Mimi fell fast asleep in the 60 degree air, after her busy morning.


Now back home, with tumor in tow. Tired. and a busy couple of days ahead. Back to Christmas Preparations, and our regularly scheduled program:)


To learn more about the best Neurosurgeons in the world, check this out: