Yes, it's a happy day. My neurologist rather enthusiastically said "I think you're fine to drive - as long as you keep taking the anti-seizure meds." Works for me, bra. So that was the big news today - unless you count that part about taking my first dose of poison and letting the WMD start it's work of... well... mass destruction.
Lori and I put in a couple hours of work before heading off to La Crosse this morning. Even though it's been in bits and pieces so far, it has been fabulous to be back at work. Starting tomorrow my boss will have returned from her vacation so things should be returning to as normal as they're going to get for awhile.
First stop in La Crosse was at the pharmacy to fill my prescription for the poison and anti-nausea meds. It was uneventful really, even though it was by far the largest prescription I've ever filled. Twelve bottles of poison and one of anti-nausea meds. We picked up a pill organizer at Walgreens and proceeded to fill up for the rest of the week. Not a happy task.
As directed, I took my first dose one hour before the radiation treatment. Then we went to records and tried to track down a bunch of stuff for which I've been waiting for weeks. I still haven't received any of the imaging from my surgery/hospital stay. I've been assured it's all on it's way. Good enough.
Then we had a comfy seat until Connie (different Connie - not Connie the Angel, but an angel nonetheless) came and explained what they were going to be doing to me. For this first session they had to take some X-rays to make sure they were positioning everything correctly. Then of course there was the main event - the much anticipated WMD itself. Turns out the actually radiation part only takes a total of about two minutes.
They were right - the anxiety abated considerably after we got this first one under the belt. During the treatment itself and leading up to it - including taking the first chemo dose an hour before - was some pretty intense anxiety. It's pretty hard to get one's head around the whole thing when you're smack in the middle of it. I had a moment or two on the table when I could have easily wept a bit. Pretty freakin' sad, when you think about it all. But... that all passed and here we are. Feeling pretty much as hale and hearty as ever. That could change in a week or two but we'll worry about that when we get to it.
I was happy to get to introduce Lori to some of my new pals from Monday. She agrees that the cancer center seems to be staffed with some pretty special people. Unfortunately, I didn't get to introduce her to Marti, my cancer guide, but I'm sure we'll get to do that at some point soon.
As we were getting ready to head off to the next appointment (always with The Next Appointment), I asked Christine (she of Cancer Care Command Central) if anyone could tell me what exactly they are doing to me with this radiation therapy. She summoned Beth who came bearing X-ray film and charts. Beth gave me all the details while the waiting room watched. Lori said later that they were all in awe of the grilling I gave Beth. Lori and I agreed that Beth and the rest of the staff there PREFER getting grilled on this stuff. They LIKE having patients fully engaged in their own treatment.
So... for those inclined... here are the chemo and radiation details:
Chemotherapy - Temozolomide (brand name Temodar) - 130mg daily
Radiation - Tumor area = 59.4 Gray; Edema area = 45 Gray. These dosages are spread out over the 33 daily sessions over the next 6 weeks or so. The edema area is the area of swelling around where the tumor was. The entire area is a pretty good sized chunk of the left hemisphere of my brain. Here is a pretty meaty little explanation of how radiation therapy works.
So far, I don't feel any different at all. Neither the chemo nor the radiation have had any noticeable effect on me. Again, we expect this will probably change over the next couple weeks. Won't it be fun discovering how? I can't wait.
On to The Next Appointment. Time to meet with my neurologist, aka my Keymaster. Since I already told you the big news, there's not really much to report here. He thinks I'm looking great and seem to be doing very well. He seemed surprised I had started therapy already... so soon after surgery. He said the EEG from Monday looked spectacular. He said he's aware I'd like to get off the Keppra (anti-seizure meds) but if I want to drive, I gotta stay on it. Easy decision.
He also did some cursory neuro testing - checking my gait, peripheral vision, my ability to alternately touch his finger and my nose. I guess I passed. I did so well that I was able to skip my appointment on the 18th and won't be seeing him again until 12/7. Happy days.
On the way home we stopped at Walmart to pick up a couple necessities. I've been complaining that the binder I bought for this adventure has some significant deficits, the main one being that stuff (like appointment cards) falls out unless I carry it right-side-up. So as a driving celebration gift, my wife bought me a nifty attache bag thingy. I love it. And I, of course, now love her even more.
Also on the way home, I got a call from one of the nurses at our local clinic. I'd been trying to track down my primary care physician to get a prescription for some smoking cessation miracle cure. So I wound up with Yet Another Appointment this afternoon with Dr. Lisa. It was a short appointment. Lori and I both got scrips for the miracle cure, talked about moving our quit date from 9/22 to 11/15 (Great American Smoke Out), and got a quick opinion on a toe owie that's been bothering Lori (she's going to be just fine).
And there you have it - yet another lengthy post. One of these days soon I'm going to have another 2 or 3 line post. I think I'm due.
Lori agreed with me that it's time to celebrate me. What I want to specifically celebrate is how tenacious I've been with this unpleasantness. After reading through previous posts, especially early on, I can safely say that it has not been all talk. I said early on that I was going to be attacking this nonsense head-on and all the evidence I can lay my hands on shows that I have been doing exactly that.
OK, I'm not completely comfortable celebrating me. Tonight let us celebrate Go Team Jeffrey! and all it's various forms. Let's give all of ourselves a big hand. Onward and upward.
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