Jim Clauer Brain Tumor Blog

Well I am home. Crazy to think that just about 72 hours ago my brain was open.  Lots to process still, but thanks for all your messages and prayers.  I'll be in touch soon.  Staples will come out in about 2 weeks.

 The operation is complete and the Doctor said it was successful. Everything went as planned. The procedure was 8+ hours but there were no problems. They believe they got all of the tumor but they will take a cat scan tomorrow. He doesn't have any facial paralysis but right now he is in a lot of pain which is expected. He is fairly alert and communicating.

Well the last 3 months has truly flown by.  What seemed like a long time away is now happening tomorrow.  I am immensely blessed by the number of people praying for me and that have reached out over these last few months.  I even had someone reach out that I haven't talked to in over a decade. I also am surprised by the number of people that came forward who have either had this same type of tumor or had a family member with it.  Everyone was very encouraging and assured me of their prayers. I have to be at the hospital at 5AM and surgery is scheduled for 7AM. I would imagine it will be early afternoon before there are any updates.  My parents will be doing the initial post to let everyone know when the surgery concludes and the preliminary outcome. I hope to be able to update myself after that.  Thanks for all you prayer warriors out there who are storming the skies.

In September I was diagnosed with a vestibular schwannoma, also known as an acoustic neuroma.  It is a brain tumor that is non-cancerous 99% of the time.  While I am thankful that it is most likely non-cancerous, my tumor is large(3.2cm) and will require surgical intervention.  This doesn't come without risks.   On January 13th, they will use an approach called retrosigmoid craniectomy to attack this tumor and remove as much as possible. It will be a team of surgeons and will likely be an 8+ hour surgery. It is pretty much a given that I will lose all hearing on my right side.  As a professional musician, you can imagine that will be a major adjustment for me.  They will also sever the right balance nerve during this surgery which will take some time to get used to. There are smaller risks, which include facial paralysis, as well as changes to my voice, and those are around 25%. So my reasoning for this post is to ask for your prayers as I continue on ...