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You are here: Home / Archives for brain tumor

brain tumor

As Funny as a Brain Tumor! Part 1

October 15, 2009 by Steve 6 Comments

Over the years, I have told this story hundreds of times.  At restaurants, friend’s homes, men’s retreats, camping trips and many other places.   There have been a number of times where I start telling the story to one person and soon find myself surrounded by a number of people all tentatively listening. These attentive […]

Filed Under: Funny as a Brain Tumor Tagged With: brain stem, brain tumor, funny, hysterical, laughing, Massachusetts, meningioma, MGH, steve neff

As Funny as a Brain Tumor! Part 2

October 14, 2009 by Steve 6 Comments

Ok, where was I?  Oh yeah……… So all this hysterical laughing is going on.  As this is getting worse and worse,  things in my life start to quickly fall apart around me.  Most of my relationships are stressed because people think I’m a little strange (OK very strange if not crazy).  The bands I’m in […]

Filed Under: Funny as a Brain Tumor Tagged With: boston, brain tumor, funny, health problems, laughing, MGH, musician, saxophone, steve neff

As Funny as a Brain Tumor! Part 3

October 13, 2009 by Steve 6 Comments

I’m back with Part 3.  At this point in the story, things start to get REALLY interesting…….  Before I delve into the rest of the story,  I need to give you some history about myself.  First of all, up until this point in my life,  I was hardly ever sick.  I never broke a bone. […]

Filed Under: Funny as a Brain Tumor Tagged With: boston, brain tumor, cancer, funny, health problems, hospital, laughing, meningioma, MGH

As Funny as a Brain Tumor! Part 4

October 12, 2009 by Steve 7 Comments

Hello again!  Where was I?  Oh yeah, around this time, my younger brother came out to visit me from Buffalo NY.  I hadn’t seen him in awhile and he decided to come out to Boston for a visit.  We had a lot of fun while he was here but the one thing I remember was […]

Filed Under: Funny as a Brain Tumor Tagged With: boston, brain stem, brain tumor, health, laughing, LensCrafters, Massachusetts General Hospital, meningioma

As Funny as a Brain Tumor! Part 5

October 11, 2009 by Steve 4 Comments

Here we are at Part 5 in the story………….A couple of days after the whole “LensCrafters” experience,  I decided to go get some chinese food with a good musician friend of mine down in Boston. We met down in Chinatown in Boston for a late dinner. During dinner,  I told him about all the things […]

Filed Under: Funny as a Brain Tumor Tagged With: boston, brain tumor, doctors, emergency room, laughing, meningioma, MGH, saxophone

As Funny as a Brain Tumor! Part 6

October 10, 2009 by Steve 6 Comments

I’ll do my best in this next part of the story to recount things in the proper order.  To be honest,  the next few parts of the story are a little vague and cloudy in my memory. I remember meeting with a Doctor to have the talk you have before a major surgery.  His name […]

Filed Under: Funny as a Brain Tumor Tagged With: boston, brain tumor, doctors, hospital, laughing, meningioma, MGH, surgery

As Funny as a Brain Tumor! Part 7

October 9, 2009 by Steve 3 Comments

Well………..where were we?  Oh yeah, in Mass General Hospital, waiting for my next surgery.  As I remember,  it was 2-3 days later.   They came to get me for the surgery and it was an emotional time.  This was the big surgery where they were messing with my nerves, arteries and not to mention my […]

Filed Under: Funny as a Brain Tumor Tagged With: boston, brain tumor, laughing, meningioma, MGH, steve neff, surgery

As Funny as a Brain Tumor! Part 8

October 8, 2009 by Steve 5 Comments

Ok, on with the story.  If you’ve read parts 1-7 you know I’ve been through quite the ordeal so far.  It’s over now.  All that is behind me and I can move on.  I can start living my life again and not worry about what’s wrong with me or what surgery I need next.  This […]

Filed Under: Funny as a Brain Tumor Tagged With: bacterial meningitis, brain tumor, laughing

As Funny as a Brain Tumor! Part 9

October 7, 2009 by Steve 7 Comments

Ok,  I have my emotions contained again and can go on with my story…….  After the neurosurgeon told me I couldn’t play the saxophone ever again, I think I was in  shock.  I didn’t know what to say or how to feel.  After a short while, I started feeling this heavy feeling of sadness coming […]

Filed Under: Funny as a Brain Tumor Tagged With: brain tumor, cancer, laughing, steve neff

As Funny as a Brain Tumor! Part 10

October 6, 2009 by Steve 4 Comments

In this next part of the story, we need to skip ahead a few years.  Just so you are clear on the time line,  I had the brain tumor symptoms from 1993-1995.  I had the brain surgery in August of 1995.  I had bacterial meningitis in August of 1996 (I actually had bacterial meningitis two […]

Filed Under: Funny as a Brain Tumor Tagged With: brain tumor, chiocca, proton beam radiation

As Funny as a Brain Tumor! Part 11

October 5, 2009 by Steve 10 Comments

After the Proton Beam Radiation treatment I quickly jumped back into things.  It was about a month later,  that I was on a gig playing my sax when I got this excruciating pain in my jaw.    I had to stop playing my solo and I just held my jaw for a second and then […]

Filed Under: Funny as a Brain Tumor Tagged With: brain tumor, proton beam, steven johnson syndrom, tegretol, toxic epidermal necrolysis

As Funny as a Brain Tumor! Part 12

October 4, 2009 by Steve 5 Comments

Well, I’ve been putting this off long enough!  To be honest, writing this part of the story is not something I feel very excited about.  There are a few reasons for this.  One, it’s not funny (well maybe a little funny).  Two, it brings back some painful memories.  Three, it doesn’t paint me in the […]

Filed Under: Funny as a Brain Tumor Tagged With: brain tumor, God, steve neff

As Funny as a Brain Tumor! Part 13

October 3, 2009 by Steve 1 Comment

Hello again.  No I didn’t die.  I’m sorry for the delay with this chapter but every once in awhile I have a problem with tendonitis in my arms and have to take a break from typing for them to get better.  I am feeling  better now and can continue the story.  OK,  where was I………….. […]

Filed Under: Funny as a Brain Tumor Tagged With: brain tumor, cancer, depression

As Funny as a Brain Tumor! Part 15

October 1, 2009 by Steve 113 Comments

The next morning, our last day in Disney, I woke up to my kids talking to each other.  I sat up in bed and just looked at them.  There voices sounded normal.  I couldn’t believe it. Matter of fact, I didn’t believe it. I put on the radio, it sounded normal. I was so excited […]

Filed Under: Funny as a Brain Tumor Tagged With: brain tumor, hearing problems, steve neff

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I have been a member of Neffmusic for more than a year now and have enjoyed every minute of it! I have not only been going thru the Dominant Bebop Scale lessons and book (OUTSTANDING!) but the mouthpiece reviews, solo clips and transcriptions are very interesting. Steve approach to beginning and intermediate improv have given me many new pathways to teach my high school jazz ensemble students. Congratulations Steve, great product!
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Thank you for all the educational information you provide.  I am a classically trained musician.  Professionally, I am a 4th and 5th grade band teacher.  I have played piano and sax for many years, but now I am starting to gig out more. I have always improvised by ear in the past. I have gotten by with my strong sense of pitch, rhythm and melodic contour. However, I want to go deeper. I want to play with a greater variety of melodic and rhythmic ideas to pull from.  I have studied to gain a … Read more
Ray
I am enjoying your style of teaching, and you’ve done a great job with the videos….good sound quality and well constructed lessons.  Balances the more guitaristic material found on the majority of guitar based programs.  Jazz vocab is what I’m all about at this point in the journey.   I especially dig the fact that you’ve studied with Bergonzi…helps me see his voluminous output in a more  bite sized way.
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Love your lessons!  I have been using your lesson packages for many months now, and am learning a lot.  It is so perfect for me with a very busy adult schedule and difficulty in taking jazz/improv music lessons from reputable instructors who live and hour or more away from me.

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I just want to say thank you so much for your unbelievable work, it is just mind opening, thanks for sharing it.

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