'the thalamus is a weird place to go"

So I have a brain surgeon.  This was not on the bucket list but we'll roll with it.  The brain surgeon is Dr. Rose and he was indeed worth waiting for.  He looks to be about 60, like he could be your grandpa and he sits on the side of your bed and holds your hand and makes you feel like you are the only patient he has.  It took so long for him to get to us because he got called to emergency surgery at another hospital to take care of  drunk 18 year old who jumped off a 12 story building Friday night.  We gave him a pass.

And here's more GOOD NEWS or at least another option to hope for. Dr. Rose thinks there is a good possibility this is a cryptic vascular malformation.  As I understand it (I'm trying not to google and Web MD  too much yet)kind of like an aneurysm, a weakened part of the vessel that enlarges and presses on the tissue and wrecks havoc.  On the MRI the center of the lesion is dark, consistent with blood and blood breakdown products.  Tumors will vascularize too but he says the thalamus is a weird place for a tumor to go because there are other places in the brain that are more rich in blood vessels like the cortex.  It is also a strange place to see an MS lesion and he'd expect to see others along the spinal cord.  It could still be a primary tumor of the brain but he thought I'd be having more symptoms and that they would have come on more gradually.

So what was his advice?  To wait! If it is vascular a biopsy could cause a massive hemorrhage.  No thank you.  He said to do another MRI in 4-6 weeks.  A vascular lesion will tend to resolve itself, a tumor will get bigger.  But doesn't conventional wisdom say not to delay with a tumor?  Dr. Rose says conventional wisdom may be conventional but it's rarely wisdom!  He says treatment would be the same and we'll have some additional tests to provide guidance in the next few weeks.  I don't love more waiting and not really knowing but I like this new option best.

So I'm visualizing a deflating balloon.   SHRINK THE VASCULAR MALFORMATION.  Say it with me now people, pray it with me now.