article_snippet: I was organizing one last massive celebration to honor my life and the people I love before my brain surgery two days later.
article_snippet: After my terrible experience earlier in the day with the resident who loved to share bad news and disappear, I knew I didn't want to have my surgery at this hospital.
article_snippet: Two weeks after the incident at work, I saw a doctor at NYU who talked about my surgery at this hospital.
article_snippet: We booked the date for my surgery at this hospital at the end of October.
article_snippet: Two days before the operation, my friends and family gathered at a bar in Brooklyn for that pre-Halloween, prebirthday, presurgery party.
article_snippet: At the hospital, my family bickered about who got a chair in the waiting room as I sat silently, waiting to be whisked through the double doors and into the rest of my life.
article_snippet: Friends and co-workers came to the hospital to tell me stories about Friends and co-workers holiday adventures and share pictures of Friends and co-workers nights.
article_snippet: I did so well there, I was named February's "Patient of the Month.
article_snippet: That fact was solidified when just a month after my surgery, my best friend's sister died from a brain aneurysm.