MRI one-year post Temodar chemotherapy
It has been one year since I was on Temodar chemotherapy and the results are in. [drumroll] My brain tumor is stable. See for yourself… The scan on the left is my brain today, and the scan on the right is my brain one year ago after completing 24-months of Temodar. Since I am psychic,...
Reading list
Have a brain tumor or other neurological disorder? Interested in how the brain works? Want to kick ass and defeat your disease? Check out some of the books on my reading list. (This list will be updated as I finish new books.) The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer, Siddhartha Mukherjee An Anthropologist...
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...
Laughing in the face of the “worst-case scenario”
Hey, everyone. I have a new $5 word for you: nystagmus. Now, before you run off to look it up on Wikipedia, give me a chance to tell my story. Over the past six weeks I have been experiencing a weird sensation when I look at something up close, including my cell phone, books and,...
Sacks is the man
I just started reading The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat by world-renowned neurologist and author Oliver Sacks. If you have a brain-related malady or are just fascinated with the mind, Sacks’ books are intriguing, educational, and easy to understand. Sacks’ starts this book with a quote that spoke to me. If you...
There is more than one Liz in this army
For all of you who worried about me you can now breathe a big sigh of relief–I was able to reassemble the 3D brain puzzle three times during my visit to Kaiser neuro-oncology this past Wednesday. I might not be the fastest assembler but surely I have set a patient record. Super Awesome Nurse...
My machine
This photo was taken on Dec. 2 when I was in Redwood City for an MRI. I had to do a lot of sweet talking to get the tech to take this picture. Really, I wanted a photo of me inthe machine, but the tech couldn’t take a photo while he was running the show...
Brain plasticity strikes again
Girl sees fine with half a brainJuly 27, 2009 “The brain has amazing plasticity but we were quite astonished to see just how well the single hemisphere of the brain in this girl has adapted to compensate for the missing half,” Dr. Lars Muckli, a researcher from the Center for Cognitive Neuroimaging at the University...
Photos: My brain as of May 21, 2009
Note to MRI newbies: Scans are always viewed as a mirror image; what appears on the left is really on the right, and vice-versa. See that empty spot in the left parietal lobe? That’s my brain hole. Actually, it’s more like a missing layer in my brain. Are you thinking what I think you’re thinking?...
How to: Shrink a cancerous brain tumor
I thought I’d explain the deal with the killing/shrinking of a cancerous brain tumor. Of course killing the tumor would be great, but in order to do that you would need to cut out all visible tumor and then an extra inch or two in every direction just to be on the safe side. In...
More than meets the eye
I just finished reading The Brain That Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science. This book taught me about 50% of what I know about the brain. If you haven’t seen me lately, don’t even talk to me about the human brain because it’s my favorite topic and I won’t...
