Baseball: the ultimate cancer therapy
I didn’t grow up in a family that was into sports. My annual exposure to sporting events was the Super Bowl, which was primarily an excuse to consume meatball subs and large amounts of French onion dip. I never played Little League. In high school my favorite P.E. class was singles tennis. I never had the...
Should a 32-year-old with brain cancer save for retirement?
Help me decide: Should one save for retirement when they have an incurable form of cancer with a high mortality rate? There are a few different ways to look at this situation. I could think on the bright side: I may live until I am 85 years old. I should be saving my money in...
Liz is a warrior
I do not pretend to know what it is like, but I think I am gleaning what troubles Liz about the use of the classification of her as a “survivor”. Liz has what is presently an incurable form of brain cancer. Someday we hope a cure will be found but unless and until that occurs...
Median survival time
I recently sat down to catch up with a great friend. After a while he asked, “So what’s the deal with the cancer?” “Didn’t you read the email-update Brett sent?” I said. “I don’t read that bullshit,” he said. “That’s for the people you don’t know as well as me.” I laughed at what he...
October 2011 letter to friends
Friends of the Liz Army, Wow, it has been a LONG time since we have sent out an update. Once again, it’s been a “no news is good news” situation. After watching an exciting game 6 of the World Series at Bob’s house in Novato, we drove out to Redwood City on Friday for Liz’s...
Congratulations
The best part about being done with treatment is that people are no longer uncomfortable around me. When you are in treatment and you tell people you have cancer they look at you with pity. Friends ask how things are going with a lowered voice. They don’t know how sensitive you are. How are things with...
A new way of worrying
My Pseudo Uncle Bob wanted to post this story on my blog but couldn’t figure out how to do it. Silly Bob, posting to this blog is for Liz! (And also for Brett when I forget to log out and he’s feeling mischievous.) Anyway, interesting story here about turning our stress around for good. Greenbrae...
The radiologist on crack
Long story short: I had an MRI on Friday. The radiologist said it looked like there was tumor growth compared with my last MRI (from November 2010). My neuro-oncologist and Super Awesome Nurse disagreed with the radiologist and think he’s on crack. (My words, not theirs.) They said this specific radiologist tends to be overly...
DNA in the house
In a previous post I mentioned that I am participating in the Gliogene study. This is a study where medical institutions like MD Anderson Cancer Center and UCSF are teaming up to find out if there are any genetic links to people with brain tumors. And since my grandfather (now deceased) and I both have brain...
What is family?
There’s a guy I know who thinks he’s old. I don’t think he’s old, but he certainly knows a lot of things. He’s a well educated man (now practicing law from a home office) who wakes up each day around 4 in the morning, works out on his exercise bike, then drinks coffee and reads...
Not that it’s any of your business…
Recently I attended a picnic with Brett. We were invited by his geek posse friends (they all collect Star Wars toys) and their families. Many people in the group have children ranging from babies to 16 years old. A five year-old girl sat down and talked to me for a while, asking me all kinds...
Consultation at UCSF
Looking east Looking west Brett, Bob, and I didn’t mind waiting for the appointment. You don’t need a brain tumor to enjoy the view from UCSF neuro-oncology. Just ride the elevator to the top floor and you can see all of San Francisco. If it wasn’t so cloudy today you could see the Golden Gate...
