Brain Surgery Follow-Up

Robert Hockings is a corrections officer at the Baraga Correctional Facility.

He was diagnosed with a brain tumor earlier this year.

After learning that he might not need to have his skull cut open, he went to the Skull Base Institute in Los Angeles.

Two weeks ago, he had a keyhole surgery where his tumor was vacuumed out through a small incision near one of his eyebrows.

Robert says he was released on August 4th, and he had headaches.

But he says they’re normal and he’s been able to walk around.

He’s on his feet as often as possible, but there are a few things he’s unable to do just yet.

He can’t lift anything, he can’t bend over and he has to sleep sitting up, but other than that, he says he can do whatever he wants.

Robert says he’ll have those restrictions in place for about another 10 days.

Then he’ll need to consult his physician in L.A. about the next step.

He says the two of them haven’t yet discussed any kind of timetable for him to return to work.

The next milestone he needs to meet is the three-week point when he can sleep lying down.

Robert learned about the keyhole approach on his own over the Internet.

He says patients need to be their own advocates and seek all available treatment options, wherever they might be.

Robert says when he did that, he found lots of options and many places eager for patients.

So now he’s looking forward to a few more weeks of recovery instead of many more months.