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...
Pets and cancer
Can owning a pet count as palliative cancer treatment? I’ve heard there is a correlation between owning a pet and a reduced cancer risk. It has something to do with pets helping lower stress and blood pressure. I no longer worry about getting cancer (HA!), however, I do want to improve my overall health–and maybe...
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....
A little tumble down the stairs can’t keep me from fighting cancer
Seriously. When have I ever let anything get in my way when it comes to cancer? There is the battle itself. Seizures. Surgery. Rehabilitation. Chemotherapy. I can handle it. And now that I live with cancer I’ve transitioned into a passionate cancer advocate. A few weeks ago a cancer-friend of mine, Kim, recommended I join the...
Don’t put your faith in holographic stickers
A co-worker sent an email (to all 250+ of us) saying he’d just read an article that linked cell phone usage to brain tumors. OK. That’s a fair warning. Then he included a link to a website where we could purchase a holographic STICKER to put inside our phones that would supposedly protect us from...
Causes of dizziness
Early this morning, from about 2 a.m. on, I slept fitfully, dizzy even in my dreams. With my eyes closed my world was spinning and I could only compare the sensation to three other situations I’ve experienced. When I was on Temodar, near the end of a treatment week, I felt dizzy in my sleep....
I’m here. I have cancer. Get used to it.
I started my current job about six months after I started Temodar. My closest co-workers knew I had brain cancer and I was open with them about when I was taking chemo and when I was on my way to the doctor or an EEG. But I didn’t tell everyone at work because I didn’t...
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...
The morning routine
I wake in the morning at 6-ish to get ready for work. The first thing I do is take 1500mg of Keppra, 150mg of Vimpat, a birth control pill and an anti-nausea pill called Kytril. Why the anti-nausea pill? Oh yeah. It’s chemo week with Temodar. (Insert unenthusiastic “yeah” here.) The other day I had...
This is what cute looks like: engaged with brain cancer
There is much going on in my world right now. I am tired. And the seizure drugs (and the lasting impact of chemotherapy) leaves me with a cloud above my head. My physical body feels much like Pig Pen‘s dust cloud–but instead of being surrounded by dirt I am surround by a fog keeping me...
My normal life with cancer
For the month of May I tried to boycott talking about brain cancer just to see if I had the will to do it. Sat., May 1 was the day of the Bay Area Brain Tumor Walk, so I started my month-long “fast” on Sun., May 2. I had set clear ground rules: I was...
