Lost and Found: My “words” after brain surgery

I have two birthdays. The first is the day my mother painstakingly gave birth to me 33 years ago. The second is the day my neurosurgeon gave me a second chance at life with his surgical knife, 11 years ago.

The brain surgery was a success for all intents and purposes. My vascular tumor was gone from my brain (huzzah!), I didn’t have a seizure during or after surgery (woo hoo!), and I woke up from anesthesia still able to speak both Japanese and English (yay!). Best of all, in the past 11 yea...