It's called an acoustic neuroma. It's a benign tumor that usually starts small and grows on the nerve that connects the ear to the brain. An MRI showed that I had one.

Major surgery of the cranial type.

Everything came out fine. That is, everything that was supposed to come out came out. Everything else stayed where it was supposed to stay. Yay! To prove to myself that my mind still worked, and to pass the time during the two months of my physician-prescribed house arrest, I decided to write about my experience. The result is the essay you can read right here. Or, you can break into the medical records room at NYU Medical Center. They have a copy there as well.