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,...
Something is waking me up at night
I’ve had nothing medical to say for a long time, and now… this. Over the past two months I’ve been woken up in the middle of the night by a weird sensation. It feels like I bumped my elbow super hard, but instead of the sensation being in the elbow it is everywhere. And only...
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...
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...
Acknowledgement :)
I had my day 23 labs today and should start Temodar cycle 23 in about a week. I e-mailed my neuro-oncologist to remind him to check my lab work and refill Temodar, Emend and Kytril. This is what he wrote back: Hey, Liz. Your labs from 2/27/2011 look fine. I refilled cycle 23 temodar for you...
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...
Determination
At work I subscribe to Seth Godin‘s marketing blog. Seth is, in my opinion, a communications badass, and I love staying up to date with his latest musings. Here is something he wrote this week: You can see the determination in his eyes That’s the way a friend described someone she had just met....
I can’t get enough of those 3D brain puzzles
I have a brain MRI tomorrow. This only means good things: 1. I will know how I am doing one year after my last craniotomy and with one year of chemo. 2. I get to see Super Awesome Nurse. 3. I am going ask about some weird side effects I’ve noticed lately. 4. I am...
Re: eosinophil count
Here’s the response from my neuro-oncologist: Your labs from 10/25/09 are fine, so you can start your next cycle of Temodar. I wouldn’t worry about the eosinophil count being slightly elevated. That can be due to a variety of things, including allergies. We will keep an eye on it, but I don’t think it needs...
Going into my 9th month of Temodar (chemo)
I’m going into my 9th month of Temodar and my latest blood test shows I have more eosinophils (a type of white blood cell) than I should. This could mean I have a weakened immune system. I am actually surprised that it has taken this long to have an abnormal blood test. I e-mailed...
Tumor status: stable
Brett and I made the trek to Redwood City to see my neuro-oncology posse and we learned two great things. My tumor is stable (i.e., not growing). This means it continues to respond well to Temodar (chemotherapy). Instead of coming to Redwood City every two months my appointments will now be scheduled three months...
A long day
All I can say right now is that today was a great day at the neuro-oncology office. My brain is looking good–hopefully I will have some new pics to share soon. Unfortunately, it was an 11-hour trip to drive there, have lunch, have the MRI, see Ms. S., the NP, drive through San Francisco during...
