The week at the hospital leading up to my first craniotomy was emotionally draining for both me and my family. The initial shock of finding out about my tumor took several days to sink in. Not knowing what type of tumor it was made it difficullt to process what the final outcome would be. Dr. Yang, my neurosurgeon, sat us down to discuss the possibilities of what it could be. He explained that it was very likely cancer and probably an intermediate to aggressive one based on the size and location. Because of the rarerety of my tumor, Dr. Yang and the neurosurgeon team at UCLA ran tests and met several times during the week prior to surgery to come up with the best possible plan of action. It was tiring udergoing several MRI’s, CT scans, angio grams, etc throughout the week and waiting around for the surgery. My wife drove out to UCLA with our son each day in the afternoons-long sleeved shirts were helpful since he liked to tug at my iv’s. The many family and friends that visited  helped to distract me and break up the monotony of the hospital stay.