Dean Townson here.  I am sorry if I haven't written in a while.  Had surgery back in July, and I am still in the process of healing.

Remember those troublesome tumors I mentioned, the ones on my neck?  Well, they are gone; I can breathe much easier, which is a huge relief.  I just hope they don't come back, but there is a chance that they could, but now that they're gone, I can enjoy being able to breathe better and not depend so much on my oxygen.

I am doing about the same:  no big changes in my life.  I just stay home and try to entertain myself.  The only time I do go out is when I see my doctors.  I lead a very sheltered life and it's because people have forced me to stay inside.  I mean, I am not pleasant to look at.  My face is distorted by ugly tumors because I have neurofibromatosus, or elephant man's disease and even when I have surgeries, the tumors come back.

They always come back.

It's extremely frustrating.  I have had more surgeries than one can shake a stick at and people oftentimes don't understand the pain and suffering I have to endure just so I can look like anyone else ... only to have the damned tumors return.

I have an extreme case of neurofibromatosis.  Maybe not quite as bad as John Merrick (aka "The Elephant Man"), but not far from it.  I can't tell you how many times I've been in and out of the hospital (mainly for surgeries).  It's really a pain (literally, in my case)!

I've had so many surgeries I've lost count.  And I will probably face more in the future.

Well, I have to run along.  I have to see Dr. Fuentes; he's my main neurologist.  He wants to see how I've been doing since the surgery; it's my post-op checkup.  Pray that I get a good report; I could really use some good news!  Thanks in advance!

The appointment is at 11:30; that's almost a half hour from now. 

~Dean.  :)

~To be continued.~

Oh, a little good news: I finally got approved for my SSDI!!  About TIME is all I can say!!