Epidermoid Cyst Back Story

My Backstory

About two years ago in the summer I had my first "moment". It was when I would feel like my heart felt funny and I would hold my chest. I would say that it feels like deja vu. I would also feel like I was visualizing a flashback in my head sometimes. I was excessively warm and I would begin to sweat. I had no idea how to describe these episodes to people. I tried explaining to my close family the best I could. I remember my mom telling me to start to keep track if the episodes happened again. My first episode (that was recorded) was on July 19, 2016. It would happen whenever. Sometimes it would happen one time a day and sometimes it would not happen for many days.

I went to see if my family doctor could tell me what was going on. They couldn't, however, they told me to go see a cardiologist. The cardiologist appointment was at the end of September 2016. They wanted to do many tests on my heart. I was okay with doing every test except the tilt-table test. They found nothing wrong with my heart except a little high blood pressure. I eventually took the tilt-table test which turned out fine. I would see the cardiologist every few months In June or July 2017 I had a moment where I would smell something that was awful but no body else would smell it, only I would. I also had a few moments where half of my tongue felt numb and dry. I told my cardiologist about the new symptoms and she told me to see a neurologist.

In about a month or two, I got into the neurologist. I told her how things have been happening for a year and a half. I gave her my list of my records on when episodes happen and what happened when they occurred. She ordered me an MRI without contrast and with contrast. I am not a fan of needles so she told me I would only need to do one with contrast if she wanted one done. A day after the MRI without contrast happened, we had an appointment. She said that I should do the MRI with contrast because she saw a small circle. A few weeks later,  right before Christmas 2017, I had the MRI with contrast done. We saw the neurologist again shortly after the new year. She told me it looked like an epidermoid cyst. The good part was that it did not absorb the dye, during the MRI with contrast. The bad part was that I had no idea what an epidermoid cyst was. She showed me my MRI and went over what was seen and showed me the ping-pong sized ball that was causing me my problems. She also said that my "episodes" were seizures. She referred me to a neurosurgeon that she has known for a while. She texted his phone and even sent him a picture of my MRI (with my permission) and told him how to contact me. The same day, his office contacted me to get me to schedule an appointment. January 16, 2018 was when I went in for that appointment.

My MRI showing the epidermoid cyst on my left side (it's backwards in MRIs)

My MRI showing my epidermoid cyst along with stating how large the diameter is.

I met my neurosurgeon and we went over the MRI in detail. He showed me how close it was to certain parts of my brain like my olfactory region. We discussed the basics of the surgery and what it would entail. I was so freaked out and worried that my mom who went with me was the one getting the information. Since I was graduating from college at the end of the semester (16 weeks), we were told that the cyst was not bad enough to have it taken out right away and we were able to wait. When asking about surgery he gave me the details that were most likely to occur. He said the surgery would be roughly two and a half hours. The incision was small and they would shave the smallest possible part of my head and it would be closed with tiny titanium screws. He also said that I would end up in the ICU for the first two or three days then go to regular room on the neurology floor. The most important thing he said to me was that my cyst was noncancerous and in a good spot.