Lexington baker James Brown (Next Great Baker) let fans know earlier this week that he would be reaching some post-op milestones this week, five months after his initial brain surgery to remove a benign brain tumor that was causing hearing loss.
“It’s been five months since my surgery and three months since I had the Gamma Knife surgery performed.” He says, “I haven’t really thought about it [the MRI] too much until they sent me the letter saying the apt. was on the 10th of July. So will see what happens. I really don’t like those MRI machines, but at least I only need one ear plug now. (Ha Ha, because I’m deaf in the right ear, which does sometimes serve me well when my wife or kids are asking me something, although I think the wife is onto that trick).”
His spirits weren’t quite as high after the neuro consult. “I’m not going to lie, I am kinda bummed out, 
the MRI showed that the tumor had not grown in size but it’s still there with a minimal decrease in size according to the doctor. I guess I kinda thought that the Gamma Knife surgery was going to somehow zap it and make it go away. But as my wife explained to me that’s not what the doctor said. The Gamma Knife procedure would hopefully stop future growth and eventually it would decrease in size. I think that sometimes as the patient you hear what you want to hear, or hope to hear. In some ways because I had such a speedy recovery, I just knew everything would be back to normal really quickly. But these things take time and I’ll get used to it. Will see in another six months. Thanks again for all the thoughts and prayers, I really appreciate it.”
But he is back at the store, Brown’s Bakery, where wife Bridget celebrated her 40th birthday earlier this week. (James asked “do I have to bake you a cake?” proving his sense of humor is still fully intact).
