Fierce Ambivalence

"But Roseman had also spent a sleepless night, brooding over the Perry Mason television show the evening before, which his wife was fond of but toward which Roseman cherished a fierce ambivalence, wanting at once to be a successful trial lawyer like Perry Mason and, since this was impossible, to destroy Perry Mason by undermining him."
Thomas Pynchon The Crying of Lot 49
I had my MRI yesterday and saw my neuro-oncologist.  After standing for over an hour on a combo of MUNI buses headed to China Basin (hacking fellow passengers everywhere - anyone seen Contagion yet?), I arrived late for my MRI.  They pushed me back forty minutes but were able to get me in.

Diagnosis

Pre-surgery haircut - I only needed a small patch shaved

The day after my MRI, I saw a GP in Canberra who sent me to see a neurologist. While ruling out a diagnosis strictly from a scan, it appeared that my "migraines" were being caused by a brain tumor.

After talking with the doctor, we decided to return to the U.S., specifically to the University of California, San Francisco Medical Center (UCSF), for further evaluation and treatment.

The next few days were a bit of a blur. Colleagues at the Embassy could not have been more helpful and supportive and by some minor miracle, thirty-six hours later, we were boarding our San Francisco bound flight in Sydney having spent about an hour packing our bags.