My Bucket List

When you hear the phrase "Bucket List", you automatically think of all the things you'd like to do before you die. Crazy, fun, spectacular, life changing events you'd like to say you did, at least once!
I've got many things on my Bucket List...things that include learning piano, sky diving, traveling to a few different countries...things like that. Never once would I say that brain surgery was on my Bucket List. I don't remember ever waking up and thinking, "Man, I hope someone cuts my head open and pokes around in my brain before I die!" That's ridiculous. No sane person would elect to have brain surgery, unless it was going to help them. No sane person would stand in line or sign up for brain surgery as something they want to accomplish before they die. Let's be serious, no one WANTS brain surgery. If I never had my body sliced open and something foreign shoved in it, I'd be ecstatic! Unfortunately, something foreign decided to grow in the most delicate place in my entire body, and it happens to affect nearly every aspect of my life...
So what would surgery entail..?
There are a few different approaches, but only one happens to be the most successful. It is less invasive and the healing time is that of a broken bone.
They shave a section about 6 inches long by about 1 inch wide on the back of your head, make an incision and proceed to remove a dime size portion of the back of your skull. They then insert an endoscope inbetween the cerebrum and cerebellum until they reach the center of the brain where the cyst is located. Through the endoscope, they insert a tool used to cut away the walls of the cyst, clean things up and then remove the endoscope, replace the portion of the skull removed and place a piece of dissolvable mesh over top to hold it in place until it heals. They then seal up the incision and you're done. Recovery time to when you're ready to return to work is about 6-8 weeks (give or take), and full recovery is about 6 months.
Again, not something I've had on my Bucket List, but much better than the alternatives. Other approaches involve slicing open half your head and moving the brain out of the way, causing much morbidity and way longer healing time (like 2+ years, if you're lucky).
So, given the alternative of living like this- with no quality of life, pain daily, and unable to work, etc... or having brain surgery, I'm going to choose surgery.
I guess you could say the newest addition to my list is revised to now include brain surgery.