This week, I realized that recovery from a traumatic brain injury is not a finite process. Though I see a neurologist once per year and continue to notice subtle improvements in my physical abilities, I thought that the intrusive medical procedures were behind me. On Thursday, I learned that such is not the case. 

During my acute care at HUP, an IVC Filter was placed into my chest to catch a blood cot before it traveled up into my lungs. The filter was supposed to be removed once I became mobile. For some reason, it wasn’t extracted. 

Recently, my mom read an article about a new technique to remove an IVC Filter. She contacted the Penn doc, who had written the article. He agreed to evaluate me. After the doctor saw CAT scans of my chest, he offered a starting diagnosis. The filter must be removed sooner rather than later. Over the past ten years that the filter has been inside me, it has shifted positions and is now partially embedded in tissue. Finally, and most troubling, two pieces have broken off of the filter and are (somewhere) inside of me. Their location is yet to be determined. 

Therefore, on August 24, I’ll undergo a procedure in which the doctor will make an incision in my neck and, using a pair of forceps, will retrieve the filter. He’ll have to dislodge the filter from the tissue before it can be removed. There’s a risk of bleeding as the filter is separated from the tissue. Also, there’s the issue of finding and removing the two pieces that broke off. 

I’m nervous about this scene. The doctor clarified that the procedure, while not a gamble, isn’t routine or relatively simple. Frankly- it is annoying. Life is steadily improving. Work is better with each passing week. I am excited about my future. But, I’ll strive to remain positive. I’ll not think about a medical setback or the what-ifs of a complication. I’ve endured and overcome much worse. 

I have the greatest network of family and friends. This too shall pass, and I’ll be back to writing about politics or sports, etc. very soon.