Meeting Dr. Ian Dunn

Mom and I went to the city, OKC, on Halloween day to meet with the neurosurgeon Ian Dunn.  He walks into the room, and you can feel his confidence.  It was not a prideful or boastful confidence but the confidence of a man who has worked hard to get to where he is in his profession. He was kind, had great patient-provider connections, and was honest with everything. 

During the first part of the visit, he reviewed my updated MRIs and showed us a better picture of the tumor. He shared how it is potentially touching a nerve and maybe a vessel and how he will preserve the nerve and vessel and leave tissue of the tumor if needed. Dunn shared the tumor will rarely, or never, come back.  He has never seen one return in his experience. 

Mom asked about cancer and his previous cases.  Dunn does fewer than five cases yearly, and I will be number four in 2023.  It is rare to need this surgery. In the twenty-four cases he has ever performed, he has only seen pathology return on one person with a cancer diagnosis.  My chances are good that pathology will come back clear, too. 

The bulk of the time we met with Dr. Dunn, he spoke on how most do not need this surgery. The reason for this surgery is two things I do not present with. Mom and I thought at one point he was going to tell us I don't need surgery. I think Mom even asked at one point, but then he said, "but you." The change in vocabulary, the turn of events, the alteration... But you do. My case is a surgery case. 

There was hope and fear in that knowledge that he would say I didn't need surgery. There is hope and fear in knowing I do. 

We left the surgery knowing that in 16 days, my life would be different. I won't lie; knowing the days would be on a countdown changed me.