Four months at a time: living between brain scans
I live my life four months at a time. After a good scan I am happy to move forward with my life for a while. In some cases I do long-range planning: I am going to a wedding this summer. My BFF wants to go to Seattle with me in the fall. Brett and I...
December 2012 letter to friends
Note: Liz’s husband sent this message to a select group of family and friends. Constituents of the Liz Army, Yes, it has once again been a long time since the latest Liz update. As you may have gathered by now, we’re going with the “no news is good news” approach. Don’t worry, things are ok,...
My movie moment: brain surgery
That which does not kill us makes us stronger. – Frederich Nietzsche If this is true, I am going to be a fucking genius. Four years ago today I had my first brain surgery. On that day I woke up in my boyfriend’s apartment with a shaved head, adhesive markers still firmly in place from the...
My brain: 16 months after Temodar
What’s the status from my latest brain MRI? No growth! Also, my new neuro-oncologist is proud I’ve started exercising. He mumbled something about exercise helping build a stronger immune system and remarked, “You’ve lost six pounds since you were last here.” What-what?! Say that again? Really? And oh yeah, a stronger immune system is also...
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,...
Surprisingly, no pre-scan jitters this time
My next MRI is sneaking up on me… I am having an intense work-up on Tuesday (April 17). I will be seeing the *new* neuro-oncologist here in Sacramento for the second time… and this is the first time with an accompanying MRI. I was seeing the neuro-oncology team in south San Francisco since 2008, but...
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...
Changing careers during brain cancer
So, I got a new job. This is a time for celebration, I get to take on new challenges and I have an exciting job title, blah blah blah. But that is not what this post is about. I’m writing about the anxiety-wrenching situation I was/am in when it comes to health care and a job change....
Video blog: Brain anxiety
After three days of dizziness, I’m anxious to receive the results of my MRI. UPDATE: MRI is unchanged since last scan in April. Whew. Feel free to watch the video anyway. See what it looks like when a brain tumor patient breaks down. It’s one of those emotion vs. logic flip-flops.
Over-thinking everything
Yesterday evening I was overwhelmed with a significant feeling of déjà vu. According to Wikipedia, déjà vu is the experience of feeling sure that one has already witnessed or experienced a current situation, even though the exact circumstances of the previous encounter are uncertain and were perhaps imagined. What creeps me out about the déjà vu is that I...
Survivor?
As usual, I fell asleep during my MRI yesterday. The technician even asked, “Are you OK in there?” I guess she was used to people responding each time she said, “This next one will take 5 minutes. … This one will be 2 minutes.” Why would I respond when she was waking me up? While...
Sarcasm
I’m having my first post-chemo MRI tomorrow. I’m sure I will sleep soundly tonight.
