Any news on BENZ-LGB? - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

Kuan · #1 06-10-2003, 07:41 AM

Anyone know what happened? We should send him a card.

Piotr · #2 06-11-2003, 12:03 AM

????

BENZ-LGB · #3 06-28-2003, 03:12 AM

Hi...I am still here, well, kinda. I've not been around here much lately; between work, the kids home for summer vacation and a few side issues involving my health I've just not had much time to log on on this board.

I saw the neurosurgeon at USC a couple of weeks ago. The good news is that I am a very unusual individual, the bad news is that being unusual is not such good news. He and some other doctor spent quite a bit of time pouring over my MRI and CT Angio film. They both concluded that due to its size and location my tumor may not be a pituitary tumor, it just happens to be right next to the pituitary! Also, because of its location, the doctors agreed that further studies are needed, including a more "refined" MRI.

Because of my trial schedule and summer vacation the neurosurgeon agreed to let me put off the add'l studies until the first of September. He said the risk of waiting a couple of months is minimal and so there is no point putting off trials and vacations. He has also referrred me to an endocrinologist, who is part of the same "pit-tumor" team. I'll see him in a week. So, at least for now, no news can be good news.

In the meantime I keep busy at work (although the Sup. Ct. decision in the Stogner case will cut back on my caseload

). The kids are hom for their summer vacation, so we are dong fun stuff (the same week that I saw the neurosurgeon I also spent a few days with my son on a research boat off Catalina Island, we snorkeled, kayaked, swam in 60 degree water w/o a wetsuit and generally had a good time). Tobu, our "baby" Akita graduates from obedience school tomorrow, we are all very proud of him! The rythms of life go on, without missing a beat and tumor or no tumor I try to keep on doing all the same things that I've always done.

Kuan (and Don--Narhwal) thanks for writing and lettingme know you care. This is my family away from home. I'll keep you posted after my next visit to the neuro.

Snibble · #4 06-28-2003, 05:52 PM

Hey Benz-LGB...this is not a political responce, we all know how fun those can be:p

I just wanted to say that we hope you come out on top and feel better. Too bad you had to go to a Trojan hospital... it would have been much better at a Bruin one:p

Take care...

Sharif

BENZ-LGB · #5 06-29-2003, 04:54 PM

Good try...but no way I'd let a Bruin mess with my head

BTW Snibble, I appreciate teh seintiment. I know that we have had our rough arguments about politics, the war, etc. the wonderful thing about this country is that we can all disagree till the cows come home. But at the end of the day, we can all still be friends.

rickg · #6 10-29-2003, 11:30 AM

Any word on how he's doing?

BENZ-LGB · #7 12-04-2003, 02:06 AM

Here is a long-overdue update on my medical condition...

Last time I posted here I was making plans for a busy summer. Well, summer came and went and it was as busy and as eventful as I had anticipated. My oldest daughter, she of the 300TE fame, went off to college and the house now seems a little emptier and a little colder w/o her music (usually Moody Blues) blasting through her bedroom door. She was home, however, for the 4-day Thanksgiving holiday, so that was good. My son is getting taller by the hour, soon he will be shaving. My middle daughter is a senior in high school, so she will be flying the coop next Fall. My youngest daughter, the jock in the family, made the Varsity volleyball team, not an easy achievement for a sophomore in her school. But getting back to the little alien that has taken up residence inmy head...er...I mean...my tumor...

By the end of summer I returned to the doctors at USC for further follow-up. The team of doctors who reviewed the second set of MRIs determined that although my tumor is very close to the pituitary gland it is not a pit tumor. The new MRIs showed that I have a meningioma (which is one kind of brain tumor). It is close to the pit gland, it straddles the right carotid artery and the optic chiasm. The good news, I suppose, is that I do not have a pituitary tumor. The bad news (when it comes to medical issues, there is always bad news to go along with the good news) is that because of its "delicate" location (the doctors' words) the tumor is inoperable.

Fortunately for me, and for people like me, a decade or so ago a Norwegian doctor came up with something called the "gamma knife." The gamma knife is not a real knife. Rather, it is the name of a procedure where the doctors aim over 200 gamma rays at the tumor and the area surrounding it. The gamma rays, individually, do no harm to the brain or to the tissue that they travel through. But when all 200 rays converge in one location--WATCH OUT TUMOR!

Well, actually the rays do not vaporize the tumor, or even get rid of it (the tumor will remain in my head, for as long as I live, an uninvited hitchhiker) What the gamma rays do is (hopefully) stop the tumor from replicating. Or in the case of David Banar (the Hulk) give him an awful case of green skin.

I am not going to go into details about the procedure itself. If you are interested, you can do a Google search under "gamma knife" and you will find all kinds of information on the gamma knife, the procedure itself, side-effects, etc. The GK is quite an amazing mixture of science and medicine.

On November 20, I had the GK procedure done. Fortunately, so far I have not felt any of the short-term adverse side-efects associated with this procedure. In fact, I felt so well, that the Saturday following the procedure my kids and I attended the USC-UCLA game where I was overjoyed to see my beloved Trojans wipe the field with those gutty little Bruins (I apologize to all Bruin fans, but after several seasons wandering in the dark, it sure feels good to be back on top again). There are some possible long-term adverse effects, but I am confident that I will too avoid all long-term adverse side effects.

Anyway, the symptoms that led me to seek medical help, basically a noticeable lack of performance in the bedroom (or anywhere else in the house where we tried it

) turned out to be related to badly controlled diabetes (yes, I have that too, lucky me). The head-doctor (no pun intended) referred me to an endocrinologist who put me on a strict diet and exercise program. After a few months I am now happy to report that all is well in every room of the house

Thus finding the brain tumor (meningioma) was an incidental finding. The doctor told me that had I not complained about my other problems, and insisted on a proper diagnosis, I would not have found out about my tumor until: (a) had a seizure (b) my vision became blurry or (c) I lost my vision completely. So I can safely state that sex (or the lack of it) saved if not my life, at least my vision. So, don't ever listen to anyone who tells you that sex (under the right circumstances, with the right person, etc--this is my legal disclaimer) is NOT all that important. As someone wrote, sex is hardwired into our system, when it is not working right, it is time to do a review of all other systems.

I now have to go back for MRI every six months for the next two years. If the tumor has not grown in that time it doesn't mean that I am home free, it can still come back. Still, no growth in a two-year period of time would be a very, very helpful sign.

I want to thank all of you who have kept me in your thoughts and prayers. I certainly felt all the good vibrations coming from this site and from you (or maybe it was just the sedation they put on my IV drip).

I am glad to be back here, talking about our favorite subjects: Mercedes cars, how much we all hate the French

and by how big of a score the Trojans will beat the Sooners (OK, that is one of my favorite subjects, but hell, I have a brain tumor, so you guys have to be nice to me!)

el presidente · #8 12-04-2003, 07:42 AM

Glad to hear the favorable news

Lebenz · #9 12-04-2003, 09:33 AM

Great to hear from you! Hopefully you didn't give up Starbucks....

Perhaps you'd care to comment on the American Justice thread????

rickg · #10 12-04-2003, 10:21 AM

Good news indeed!

MikeTangas · #11 12-04-2003, 01:28 PM

Excellent news!!!!

Keep on prosecuting.

suginami · #12 12-04-2003, 07:04 PM

Very good news.

I've thought about you from time to time, and it's good to hear you are doing so well.

It's amazing how much I've thought about your situation, even though we've never met in real life, and only see each other's threads on this forum....

mikemover · #13 12-04-2003, 09:16 PM

Glad you're back, bro...and I wish you continued health!

Mike

drbrandini · #14 12-04-2003, 11:15 PM

I'm glad your doing well and will continue praying for you!

BENZ-LGB · #15 12-05-2003, 01:19 AM

At Lebenz's suggestion I poked my head into the "American Justice" thread. WOW...I am already picking a "fight" with Zeitgeist. It sure feels good to be back.

Again, thank you all for your thoughts and kind comments. I feel as if I am doubly-blessed. Blessed once by my bio-family. Then blessed again by my cyber-family here.

I don't want to get too metaphysical here, but everytime I get into my 420SEL I realize that getting behind the wheel of an MB is more than driving a car. I am driving a "vessel" that is part of a larger family. I may be wrong, but I don't think that there are Lexus families, or Infiniti families, like there is this Mercedes family.

It is good to be back....