Hi, I'm Ian and I'm lucky I'm not dead.

Hi, Giant Bomb peeps. I dunno if I've ever used my name around you all (I've mostly just enjoyed being the Doom dude for the past few years), but hey, my name is Ian, and I guess I'm just writing this because some extreme shit happened to me over the last week and I feel like talking about it. In short, basically, I started having major headaches and after a week those headaches turned in to me forgetting words and being unable to read or write at all. I was pretty terrified that I had brain cancer or something and I was gonna die. That, luckily, is not what was up. Which isn't saying it wasn't a big thing, but it wasn't cancer, so I'm really lucky there and I'm glad.

What it was, it turns out, was a MAJOR brain abscess on my left lobe. It may have been a part of my brain for a pretty long time, I'm not sure, but a bad tooth decay caused it to get worse to the point where I needed to go to the hospital. So as of last week I went to a hospital, got put under, and got my skull the hell opened. It was gnarly. It hurt bad. I have a gnarly scar on my skull. Check it out, duders.

I'm actually healing pretty amazingly well. Walking just fine, remembering words, and obviously writing okay. I'm actually happier than I've been in years, I think my abscess may have made my brain all depressed for a long time and now I'm suddenly way more easily excited about fucking everything; games, movies, etc. I'm not gonna be able to go to work for a good while while all this is healing, so I'm planning to play a hella ton of vidgames in the next couple months, so hey, if any of you have ideas of stuff I should play, let me know!

I dunno what else to say. I know you guys don't know me that well, but I wanted to show off my gnarly ass skull scar. I'm alive. I'm good. I got lucky. Really lucky.

Woah

Glad you're OK is all I can say. It's terrifying that this sort of thing can (for all intents and purposes) just appear out of nowhere one day, to anyone.

Even though it's hard to remember, I try my best to be thankful for every day that I have.

Holy cow man, I'm glad you're ok!

Great to hear that your recovery is going well. I was recently in my annual work-mandated check-up at the doctor and he was really adamant that I go to a dentist which I hadn't done in close to a decade because bad teeth really can do bad shit to you.

But hey, bad stuff happened but now you're feeling better. That's cool as hell.

Wow man, congrats! You beat the abscess, got a scar that now makes you resemble a badass Bond villain, and you even managed to come away better for it mentally speaking! That's a win-win... win right there.

Holy shit dude! I'm super happy to hear you're ok and will be with us to close out your epic Doom thread. What's your scar story gonna be? Shrapnel, motorcycle, or chainsaw fight?

That's nuts. Glad you are okay!

Hey man glad that you have found the problem and that you are recovering nicely from it, and also have a badass scar from it, haha.

bitchin scar, good to hear you're recovering well and feeling better/having a better outlook. i guess it makes sense all that head-stuff is pretty interconnected.

I'm so glad you're okay buddy. Your scar is amazing! I have a lot of pretty big scars from surgery but nothing as cool as that.

Good to see you healthy and in good spirits, duder!

I love you!

You'll be pulling tail off that scar in no time!

That's a lot of excitement for one week. Glad to hear things came out alright.

Good on you duder for both the recovery, feeling better, and thinking to get yourself checked out! sadly there are still some people out there who, even in extreme circumstances, think they will "walk it off" and don't go to a doctor. That ends poorly!

Also you scar will be awesome forever

Aww man that sounds terrifying. Really happy to hear you got through it OK and are feeling pumped! I'm also glad you're cool with the scar, because as traumatic as it must have been, that's a pretty rad scar.

Side note: My screen is acting up at the moment and I read 'Ian' in the title as 'Lan', as in local-area network. And I thought it was going to be a post about a resurgence in LAN gaming, written from the point of view of LAN itself. The actual post is much better.

Awesome story. Happy to hear you're doing well. And now you can basically have the best Venom Snake costume.

I went through a medical scare recently too. SSHL (sudden hearing loss), which was terrifying as a person who loves music. Lots of audio therapy (and some good luck) got me through the experience. I think I've fully recovered hearing, but I haven't taken the test in a few days. I've considered writing about that experience, but compared to what you went through it's nothing.

Get well duder.

Um, wow. Just, I, wow. I don't really know what to say, other than I'm happy a fellow duder is doing fine despite health-threatening issues.

Uhhh... I guess I would suggest the Talos Principle. Just came out on PS4 and I've been liking it quite a bit. Highly recommended. Also, I don't know if this is bullshit, but a puzzle game like Talos might be good for a recovering brain...?

Keep on truckin' man.

I've had an ear infection go into my jaw once, reading this makes me really glad it went down instead of up. Good to see you made it through.

Now if you will excuse me I am going brush my teeth a few times.

holy christ

Hooray for catching it, and hooray for your medical team for being able to deal with it effectively!

That is an INTENSE scar, best of luck with the recovery man.

There's tons of good games out right now at least, to make it go down smoother. Witcher 3, MGSV, Destiny: Taken King, Guitar Hero Live, AC Syndicate (surprisingly) all seem like strong choices. Nathan Drake collection if you haven't done that stuff before.

That's a hell of a scar.

Glad you're on the mend!

Man do I have some good news for you!

Doom is on it's way!

Dude that's wild. Glad to hear you're ok now!

Are you thee Doom guy? I love the story of that legendary thread, so great and kept alive through the years, highs and lows. Man, I'm not going to lie, that scar looks pretty dope.

It may have been a part of my brain for a pretty long time, I'm not sure, but a bad tooth decay caused it to get worse to the point where I needed to go to the hospital.

The human body is so weird, tooth decay to brain?! I have no idea how any of this works but congrats on finding it and getting it all sorted.

Oh my goodness! I'm so relieved you're doing better now. Best of luck for the future, you seem to be on a great path! :D

AHHHHHHH AHHHHHHH AHHHHHH!!!!!!!

Holy fuck duder!

Jesus!!

Holy shit, dude, glad you beat this.

That scar is indeed gnarly. When they make the next Mad Max movie you should apply.

Your teeth basically have entry points into your bloodstream inside them. Rot one away for long enough and you've got a germ highway to any point in your body.

Get well soon! That is going to be the most bitching scar in your town.

I bet you will find the video gaming to be really good for building upon your awareness and cognitive abilities while you recover.

All the best.

yeah that is a sick fucking scar! you can switch it up from bad tooth to scimitar fight whenever you want.

Holy fucking shit I'm glad you're okay

Also you could totally pass for a metal gear villain if you dressed right

Glad you made it through duder, and I will echo the rest of the thread and agree at least you got out alive and with a sick scar.

Well, this is going to be an easy Big Boss cosplay!

Well damn, if I get an alpha code I'll make sure to send it your way.

I'm super glad you were able to get treatment in time. I hope you heal up soon!

Crazy stuff Ian, glad to hear you are okay now. Enjoy the time off work and play a stack of awesome games \m/

Good to hear you are ok man, that must have been crazy scary!

that tooth was all, "yo- check this shit out!"

but you were all, "nah."

glad you're doing better, that's a hell of a thing!

Get the other side done so you can tell people you had your horns removed.

Teeth are crazy things. A number of terrible afflictions can start with tooth problems. Glad you caught it and are OK!

I'd suggest giving Binding of Isaac a try if you haven't already. There's an expansion coming next week that adds even more content to the already massive game. You can easily lose hundreds of hours to that game if it "clicks" with you.

Hot damn, thank you everyone! I really appreciate the positive comments and such!

Shit yeah, that's me. I'm the guy with the fucking... five years now, I think? Five year old Doom forum thing here. I LIVE, FOR I MUST SEE NEW DOOM.

Ha, yeah man, I'm hoping I find a way to play it but if not? Fucking stoked you'll be playing it!

@splodge:@gaff: @hatking: I'm gonna try to use this thing for some gnarly ass Halloween costume, whether it's like Venom Snake or some crazy post apocalyptic raider costume or something.

I'm glad everything turned out okay, duder. You've made me feel way better about going to the dentist next week.

That is such a great and positive way to go about your situation dude. Good to hear you're ok. Some fucking gnarly scar if you don't pick up chicks with that I don't know what will bro

My name's Ian too!

Wow! That sounds so rough. It's great that you're recovering!