Hi: I live in Portland, Oregon, 43 years old, married with children and am recovering from a brain abcess caused by acute sinus problems. The infection ate through my sinuses and my skull base. They originally thought it was a brain tumor.

On November 9, 2001 I woke up with a headache and within 24 hours lost my eyesite, could not stop vomiting and experienced acute head pain. They stabilized the pain with steroids and morphine and a neurologist began preparing for brain surgery. They decided to go through my nose instead because of the where the mass was placed and felt it was less risky. The pathology reports were inconclusive and they sent it to Washington DC for further testing because they were so baffled. Those tests took weeks and are inconclusive too. The brain abcess appeared about week after the surgery and required 6 weeks of IV antibiotic therapy which ended January 5, 2002. No relapse has occurred but I am still in substantial pain, can't function on a daily basis, have many dibilitating symptoms and my doctor's are scratching their heads. Based on my own personal research, this situation is a "textbook case" and no one has ever heard of this happening.

I am very familiar with neurological banter because my younger brother broke his neck on his honeymoon several years ago and is a quadrapelgic. My sister was hit by a drunk driver 25 years ago and has survived over 50 surgeries. I have always been very involved in their recoveries so I have lots of experience as a caregiver. This, however, is the first time in my life I have been a patient. It is a vey humbling and scary experience.

I have good insurance, a supportive family, a lot of spunk and a strong faith. But I feel like my doctors' don't know what they are doing and no one can tell me if the symptoms and chronic pain is normal or if it will ever go away or even what a relapse rate is...I went to another specialist last week and hand carried my records. Before I dropped them off I spent a weekend reading them. None of my doctors ever told me my skull base was compromised. I need to become my own advocate and need information, support and help.

I recently got in touch with the Brain Injury Association in my state and hope to have access to some literature to become educated about my condition. What I really need is to communicate with others who have had similiar problems so I can begin to measure my condition and recapture my life.

I don't know how to get into a chat room, but I know how to e-mail. If there is anyone out there who can share their stories with me, talk to me about what to expect, give me advise how to handle all this, I would be grateful to hear from you. My memory, emotions, eyesight, communication abilities, etc. have all been affected. I am still on pain medication, am off seizure meds and feel I can now communiate OK in writing. They are not sure if I'm having a brain leak...they told me I can survive OK without the sinuses and with the skull bone they way they left it, but they can't tell me how that translates into healing or how long.

I hope someone can help me.

Thanks, Theresa
(Tisa my childhood nickname and e-mail name is pronounced Tee-Sa)

Email Theresa