1 Yr MRI 'Stable'

My tumors' birthday is coming up. It was on September 9, 2010 when I had my first MRI and found out my brain buddy. Actually, we don't know when it was born, so lets call it an anniversary.
Here is the blog entry from that day:
http://edslas.blogspot.com/2010/11/first-mri.html

Anyway, my oncologist said the MRI yesterday was 'stable', as far as they can tell. The visit to the cancer mill almost went off without a hitch....except they forgot to take my vitals before seeing the doctor. I should have kept my mouth shut and saved 10 minutes.

The only thing I talked to the doctor about was my lack of stamina. I have been having a real hard time making it through the day. After a couple hours at work, my eyes feel like they are going cross-eyed and the fog I've been talking about settles over my head.

The doctor said that I can try Provigil (100mg/day). I have been hesitant to  take on any 'sustaining' medications, but this is getting out of control. I hope it helps. He then said the insurance was probably not going to cover it, and if it doesn't, go to Canada. So I was not surprised to get a call from the pharmacy saying one of my prescriptions was having insurance issues. I called the pharmacy and they said the Provigil was ready, but the Temodar (Chemotherapy) was denied by the insurance company. Ahhh, the fight continues.

Half way through Chemo, Monkeys, and Fog!

I finished the 6th month of Chemo last week. Nothing out of the ordinary, I think I have the pattern figured out. The next follow up MRI is at the end of the month, I am really not expecting any dramatic news. The oncologist flips between measuring progress with MRI's and 'symptom based treatment' depending on what questions I ask. My symptoms are pretty stable, so I am expecting a stable MRI.

I have been having a hard time dealing with daily life. The exhaustion and constant headaches are starting to wear on me. I can can handle being tired and having a headache for a couple days, a week, a couple weeks, a couple months....but only having a few good days over 6 months sucks monkey balls. I know there are monkey ball advocate groups out there who are going to chastise me, but my patience is wearing thin. Holly and the kids, I am sorry when this boil over. I try my best to keep my cool.

A fog has settled over my previously clear mind and I have lost some confidence. Throughout my career I have held some management responsibility, usually without any authority. I learned early on that authority is demeaned if you work hard at understanding everything that is going on, what needs to be done, and know who you are working with. If you have understanding, vision, and friends, you do not need authority. The fog settling over my mind is hampering two of these ingredients. This is unsettling. I have little relief on my responsibilities as a husband and a father. I hope I can hold out until this Chemo fog passes and I can get back to kickin' but. 

Chemo cycle 6 self-delayed, MRI next month

Holly and I had an appointment with the oncologist on Tuesday. An wait in the waiting room, no answer to two queries as to why we had to wait so long. No apology when we finally did get in.The Cancer mill bites again.

Standard meeting with the doctor. He checks that I have can move all my limbs and a gross check of my field of vision. I passed. Yeah!

I asked if we could delay the start of this cycle for a week. I was looking at the calendar and not only would labor day weekend follow a cycle, but I would be on chemo Christmas day. Delaying this cycle by a week starts this cycle on the Monday of Labor day and the week after Christmas. They were agreeable, and I am excited to see how I feel with an extra week of this cycle.

Then we go to checkout. I needed to make an appointment for the next month and schedule my next MRI. Now we are about an hour away - its nice to have them both on the same day. The scheduler at the chemo mill says sorry, cant do that, has to be on two separate days. I was furious, got up and left. Today I called my nurse and she was able to do it. I wish there was a way to bypass that whole scene.

So unless something drastic happens between now and the end of September, you probably won't hear much out of me.

Have a nice weekend.

Radiation hair recovery after 5 months.

As I mentioned before, I stopped shaving and let my hair grow out to see what it looks like.

Most of my hair fell out by the end of the 6 weeks of radiation,
See week 6 pics here
 And since then I have been sportn' the Mr. Clean look.  Here is what I look like today:

I think it looks freaky, but people say it looks good (especially Brian at work ;) and shaving blows chunks, so this will be my new look for a while.

5th Chemo Cycle dragging on

Well its Sunday afternoon, and I still am feeling the effects of the chemo. I would usually feel better by Saturday afternoon. I watched my diet and kept active but the chemo 'daze' is still lingering. I took the decadron steroid this cycle to hold off the headaches, that worked well. I can't seem to put all the thoughts in my head into words right now....so I'll cut this post short....

Reason for hope

In my daily googling on brain tumors, I ran across an article about new brain tumor treatments under development. It is good to know that someone is working on this rare disease, most of the funding goes to more popular diseases.

Read more here:
Brain tumor discovery could lead to new treatment

Another Migraine

Last month I had a severe headache that sent me to the doctor, today I had another severe headache but skipped the doctor part. It came on at work, and was so bad I had Holly come pick me up. There was no way I could drive.

I think that both of these episodes were a result of missing a dose of Keppra (Anti-Seizure medication). Both times I missed a dose the day before. It is pretty scary to think that I am that so dependent on Keppra that missing a single dose makes me have a migraine. I do not intend on testing this theory.