radiation

The Dreaded Word – Recurrence

~ Brain Cancer Babe ~ 3 Comments

I think it’s safe to say that every single cancer patient fears that dreaded word – recurrence.  We may not think about it every single moment, of every single day.  However, every survivor I have spoken with over these last 2 years admits, “It’s always somewhere in the back of my mind.”  In this awful world of cancer, is there really anything more frightening?

Cancer Attacks

Going back to my original diagnosis and the beginning of the “cancer chaos”, I technically remained “cancer free” following my surgery in April 2014.  Yet, I then underwent treatment for cancer, obviously in an attempt to remain “cancer free.”  I recall asking my radiation oncologist, “So, what do I say?  Do I actually have cancer?”  She looked at me with a questionable smile and said, “Well, you don’t have a tumor, but you are being treated for cancer.  So, there is really no easy answer to that question.”  Fair enough.

I HATED it when people said, “Oh that’s great!  You’re in remission!”  The other comment that made my skin crawl was, “So you’re cured!”  Hmmm… not so much.  I don’t blame them.  People who haven’t lived through this really don’t truly understand.  They mean well and only want the best for me.  It is frustrating though.

Anyway, 2014 rolled on.  MRIs all looked clear.  I was back at work.  No more treatment.  Sure, I was still on anti-seizure meds, but those weren’t going away any time soon.  I still had physical therapy, but I was exercising regularly and could do every workout I wanted.  Yes, I remained in therapy every so often.  Cancer is a true trauma and a little professional help goes a long way.  I was heavily involved in charity organizations, which gave me so much strength and purpose.  I was meeting so many other amazing survivors.  Life was really pretty much back to normal, although we all know it was the “new normal.”

The fear of a recurrence never went away.  However, it didn’t dominate my thoughts.  There were even moments I didn’t even think about cancer!  I almost forgot about it… almost.

So 2014 came to a close and I decided to celebrate the end of the hardest year of my life in the Caribbean with my husband.  We sat on the beach, sipping champagne.  We ate A-mazing food.  We watched the fireworks over the ocean on New Year’s Eve.  God, life was good.

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We rang in the new year in style, but it was back to reality.  And boy, did reality strike like a ton of bricks.

In February 2015, ironically just after my 35th birthday, my MRI began to show an enhancement at the surgical area where the original tumor had been removed.  It was extremely small, so my doctors could not absolutely confirm it was indeed a recurrence.  We would just have to wait and see.

So there it was – that dreaded word.  My biggest fear staring me in the face.  Yet, I didn’t even have enough information at that point to even confirm, yes, the tumor is back.  I would be stuck in limbo for the next few months until my next MRI.  The hope was that the enhancement would remain stable, indicating that it was likely just a side effect of the radiation.  However, if it increased, then, well, it was likely it was a recurrence.

Simply by reading the title of this post and it’s category, the recurrence was eventually confirmed.. but I’ll get there.

In the Clear! And, the “New Normal”

~ Brain Cancer Babe ~ 2 Comments

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In my prior post “Vacation Period?” Seriously…, I described the traumatic period between my last radiation treatment and my follow-up MRI.  Well, the day of reckoning had come – the MRI results were in.  ALL CLEAR!  No sign of cancer!

Without a doubt, I was indescribably relieved.  I cried tears of overwhelming joy.  That metaphorical tons of bricks weighing on my shoulders immediately lifted.  It was almost surreal.

Once my oncologist sat down with me celebrating the incredible news, we got to another topic… the emotional turmoil of those weeks leading up the MRI.  She knew full-well what I had been going through, thanks to multiple calls to her office.  Even with the clear MRI, she knew I needed help to process all of this.  So, she recommended several things, including seeing a therapist, as well as a psychiatrist for an evaluation to determine if I
needed medication to ease the anxiety that had overcome me during that period of time.

I had never been in therapy.  I was of the strong opinion that here in the U.S., we were over-medicating ourselves with antidepressants and drugs of all sorts.  I’ll be honest – I was against it all.  However, she felt that it was almost a “prescription” to seek out professional help within the hospital’s incredible counseling center.  So, because I literally trusted her and all of my doctors with my life, with much hesitation, I agreed.

Additionally, she suggested reaching out to the hospital’s social worker, who specifically dealt with neurology patients and particularly brain cancer patients.  I had an easier time agreeing to that idea.  It seemed a lot less clinical.  As it turns out, the social worker pointed me to some really great cancer organizations, particularly First Descents (http://firstdescents.org/).

During the dark period, it also hadn’t helped that I had been on a seizure medication known to have terrible side effects regarding anxiety/depression in some patients.  So, with the clear MRI, my seizure doctor was comfortable taking me off that medication and replacing it with another drug.  Changing that medication made a world of difference for my mental state.

Going back to the time period between my surgery and throughout my radiation period (approximately 6 months after my inital diagosis), I had actually been extremely positive and strong.  I had become heavily involved in the National Brain Tumor Society (www.braintumor.org).  I had also just signed-up for a post-treatment support group through CancerCare (http://www.cancercare.org/).  So, I will say I was fortunate that the dark period only truly lasted those several weeks before the MRI.  Now, with the news the MRI was clear, boy, did my whole outlook change!  I went back, almost immediately, to that fighter/survivor, who people had truly been amazed by.  People had called me an “inspiration” (discussed in my post https://braincancerbabe.com/2016/04/19/being-an-inspiration/) and yeah, I felt that way again.

So, life began to quickly normalize again.  I felt happy.  I felt strong.  I felt positive.  I truly felt that everything was going to be okay.  Of course, the fear of a recurrence remained in the back of my mind, but it didn’t dominate my thoughts.  I was meeting so many other survivors and realizing, “Hey.  I’m not alone in all of this.  Other people actually felt the same way I did!  This was NOT a death sentence”  I went back to work, part-time.  Although, I still hated my job and actually regret going back so soon.  I did see the therapist and set up a regular schedule of appointments.  The psychiatrist, thankfully, deemed that I did not need antidepressants.  Life felt good again.  It felt really, really good.

While yes, life did normalize, it was indeed my “new normal.”  I felt comfortable with the fact that cancer had changed my whole world, but it wasn’t all for the worse.  I truly embraced a new perspective on life, namely, “Live every minute of every day like it’s your last!  Appreciate everything you have!”

I saw how lucky I was to have come out of all of this with very, very few side effects.  I was doing pretty much everything I had been doing before cancer entered my world.  I mean, seriously – I had had brain cancer and brain surgery!  Yet, here I was, pretty much the same girl I had been.  I truly recognized what an amazing support system I had.  The kindness, concern and love from even strangers overwhelmed me.  Man, was I loved!

I continued to be monitored very closely by my neurology team.  At every visit, they were beyond thrilled that the dark days were behind me (which I now see as a very brief period of time in the grand scheme of things).  They loved seeing that girl they had first met, who showed what a fighter she was and how she continued to embrace life so much.

I was kickin’ ass.

However, things did change in early 2015.  So, that will lead to my next post and specifically, Round 2 of the cancer chaos.

 

 

“Vacation Period?” Seriously…

~ Brain Cancer Babe ~ Leave a comment

In my last post, So, you’re going to radiate my brain????, I talked about my 6 weeks of radiation.  As I described, radiation had become part of my regular, daily routine, as odd as that may sound.  Following the end of my 30 radiation sessions, my doctors dubbed the time until my next scan my “vacation period.”  Seriously?

There’s power in the words you choose, especially when it comes to cancer.  To call that time “vacation” is just simply wrong.  That term should never, ever be used.  So obviously, the period between the end of radiation until my next scan was by no stretch of the imagination, a “vacation.”

First, I lost that daily routine.  I was left all on my own to  find something else to do, day in and day out, to occupy my time.  From leaving my home to arriving back after radiation, I was out of the apartment for hours.  I wasn’t sitting around, pondering my own thoughts.  If there’s one thing that keeps you out of your head, it’s following a routine!

With the lack of that routine, things became VERY dark.  Frankly, this was the first time I truly felt the weight of what I had just gone through.  The “fight or flight” mentality had weakened.  I found myself sitting on my couch, hysterically crying, asking, “What the hell just happened to me?”  It never got to the point of, “Why me?” although that’s a perfectly understandable, common response.  However, it was the first time I truly thought about death.

My husband, my family, my friends – they had careers.  They worked all day.  I didn’t have any fellow cancer patients to turn to.  I felt completely and utterly alone, left with my own frightening thoughts.  Again, to call this a “vacation” makes me sick.

It’s a strange phenomena to me that the end of treatment was worse than undergoing the treatment itself.  I’ve heard both sides of this – some patients see treatment as horrific and ending treatment a true relief.  However, I’ve also met many survivors who felt just like me.  Again, each and every person is different, just as each and every cancer is different.  There is absolutely no judgment in either experience or opinion.

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Another frightening aspect of this “vacation” was the lack of contact with medical staff.  Sure, my doctors were a phone call away.  Yet, going back and forth to the hospital for 6  straight weeks meant there was always someone physically there to monitor me.  If I had an issue, or a question, it could be handled right there and then.

There was a specific incident I remember during that “vacation” when I came down with a simple, routine cold.  I convinced myself it was so much more.  I was sure the tumor was back and it was affecting my whole body.  I also feared that every little twitch in my left leg was an oncoming seizure.  My oncologist’s nurse had to practically talk me off the ledge.  Yet, she understood what was going on.  It wasn’t the first time a patient had called believing the most minor thing was the end of the world.

And so, I truly mentally, emotionally suffered those 6 weeks.  It also didn’t help that leading up to the next scan, my first bought of “scanxiety” hit.  For any cancer patient out there, I would safely bet, you’ve experienced this.  For anyone who isn’t familiar with the experience, it is basically an overwhelming fear/anxiety/stress leading up to the results of a scan.  Many compare the symptoms to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).  Uh, I can relate and wholeheartedly agree.  (As an aside, with no medical training whatsoever, I believe that the entire cancer diagnosis and what trauma follows brings about PTSD).

My immediate post-op MRI had shown that the surgery was a success and there had been a total resection of the tumor.  Yet, there was always that chance that there were cancerous cells still there, lurking around that no one could see just yet.  So, this next MRI was the first since my surgery.

The thoughts that consumed me: Would the scan show the tumor had already grown back?  Had the radiation worked?  Was there serious swelling on my brain caused from the radiation?  Could there be any visible side effects from the radiation?   Although, I didn’t even really know if that was possible…  Was I going to have to undergo another surgery?  This time, would they decide I’d need to start chemo?  Worse off, would they tell me that none of the treatment had worked and we simply had no other options?

At that point, I didn’t know about scanxiety.  I had never met or talked to a fellow patient/survivor, especially one my age.  I thought I was alone in this feeling.  Was I going crazy?  In fact, although I’m sitting here writing about it, I actually have a difficult time putting into words just how consuming and terrifying these thoughts were.  It actually felt like I was carrying a ton of bricks on my shoulders.  And worse off, no one around me truly understood, although of course they were sympathetic and tried to understand.

So, the time finally came where I underwent that first post-radiation MRI.  I don’t believe at that point I had been introduced to the magic of anti-anxiety medication.  So, as far as I can remember, I went into that MRI cold… nothing in my system to ease the fear of: 1.) going into that MRI tube, again; and 2.) the pure, raw fear of what that MRI could possibly show.  P.S. I have never ever once opened my eyes while in the tube, despite the countless MRIs over the last 2 years.

Luckily, the way my appointment worked, and still works to this day, I met with my oncologist just hours after my MRI.  So, I would know the results that day and then.  And that is the topic of my next post.

So, you’re going to radiate my brain????

~ Brain Cancer Babe ~ Leave a comment

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Following my initial brain surgery in April 2014, it took time to come up with the further “treatment plan.”  Given that I am so fortunate (insert sarcasm here), my tumor, an anaplastic ependymoma, is extremely rare.

All of my factors also played into how rare it was:

1.)  It was a primary tumor in my brain –  typically, my type appeared in the spinal cord and remained there,  or it would metastasize to the brain; there was absolutely no trace of cancer in my spine (confirmed through spinal taps – oh my god, the pain!)

2.)  My tumor is considered a childhood/pediatric cancer, so it is rare to find it in adults (some statistics show that only approximately 70 adults in the U.S. are diagnosed with a malignant, primary brain ependymoma every year.)

3.)  There are extremely limited studies regarding ependymomas, given how rare they are.  Thus, treatment options are basically – surgery, and/or radiation and/or maybe chemo.  Yet, the few studies showed that combining radiation and chemo didn’t make much difference, if any.  Thus, radiation was the standard protocol following surgery

4.)  My surgery resulted in a total resection of the tumor.  Thus, I was “technically” cancer-free, for whatever that was worth…

[DISCLAIMER:  This information is NOT meant to be taken as medical advice or gospel.  https://cern-foundation.org/ is the primary source for information on ependymomas)

So, following my surgery, I met my amazing “team” of doctors.  They are a god-send and I am literally thankful every single day for them.  My “team” consisted of my neurosurgeon, neuro-oncologist, seizure neurologist and radiation oncologist.  This didn’t even include the numerous doctors, who served on my hospital’s tumor board and studied my case alongside my primary doctors.

Together, my team came up with the plan – I would undergo 6 weeks of radiation (30 sessions 5 days a week) and no chemo.  I didn’t really think twice about it.  What other choice did I have?  I trusted all of these doctors.  I was being treated at one of the top cancer hospitals in the country.  Plus, there was really no other studies/information to show any alternative treatment.

Of course though, the idea of actually radiating my brain sounded insane!  Um, weren’t we all taught throughout our lives that radiation was a really, really bad thing?  Ex. “Don’t stand in front of the microwave!  Radiation!”  However, I don’t recall even asking that many questions.  I knew the really basic, possible side effects – swelling on my brain, fatigue, hair loss, etc.  So, I just kind of casually decided, “Okay, let’s do it.”

One of the most disturbing experiences regarding the radiation was the mask.  For those who don’t know, in order to radiate the brain, a patient needs to undergo a simulation.  Amongst other things, that involves forming a mesh mask to be placed on your face and around your head.  The mask would then be strapped down to the radiation table during your treatment.  It is so sci-fi I cannot even describe.  It is scary.  It is beyond uncomfortable.  It creates such pressure around your entire face and head.  Sometimes, it felt like I couldn’t breath properly or swallow.  I hated it.

I know some patients actually keep their masks.  I literally never looked at my mask.  I refused.  So, obviously I did not keep mine.

And so, I spent the first 6 weeks of my summer traveling 5 days a week to have my brain radiated.  The treatment itself never hurt.  It actually became very routine.  It was just a part of my day.

One of the most difficult parts came when I began to lose my hair from the radiation.  I never ever thought it would affect me so much.  Sitting on my couch, running my hands through my hair and holding clumps of it was overwhelming.  I cried – a lot.  I needed to get a hair piece, but I hadn’t actually lost enough to need a full wig.  When I sat down at the hair piece consult, I absolutely lost it.  I could not stop crying.  I guess it was one of the first physical signs that demonstrated, “Yes, you are actually a cancer patient.”  Frankly, I just didn’t look sick, or what we imagine a cancer patient is supposed to look like.  Yet this – this was an unquestionable physical sign that radiation was indeed entering my brain and causing side effects.  I was indeed a cancer patient.

Another side effect I wasn’t totally prepared for, despite being told over and over about it, was the fatigue.  It didn’t hit me as hard as I know it does some patients.  I literally went to my radiation sessions every day by myself on the bus and subway, which people were surprised by.  I made sure I walked every day.  I attended my PT sessions two to three times a week.  However, it took every ounce of my strength, both mentally and physically, to fight that fatigue.  Trust me, it isn’t just being tired.  It is a full body exhaustion.  However, as I was told over and over again, the best way to fight the fatigue was to basically, just fight through it.  So, I did.

I also spent a lot of time with friends and family enjoying summer as best I could.  I took a LOT of advantage of a friend’s pool.  I lounged on the beach as much as possible.  I laid out in the sun and read a lot.  I made sure I kept up my social life, although I obviously wasn’t frequenting the bars until 1:00 a.m.  I mean, for the first time in my life since my teens, I wasn’t working.  I was sure as hell going to take advantage of that!!!

So, after those 30 radiation sessions ended, my doctors advised that I would undergo my next scan in approximately a month to 6 weeks later.  I am still bitter and angry about this, but they called this my “vacation period.”  I wasn’t in treatment, so this was the time to rest and take advantage of my “vacation” from radiation.  It’s insulting to call it that.

My next post on the topic of Round 1 of my cancer life will go into the details of this “vacation period.”  Needless to say, it was NO vacation!

 

So, Freddy Krueger And I Walk Into A Bar…

~ Brain Cancer Babe ~ 3 Comments

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It’s officially a week and a half since my 12-hour brain surgery/plastic surgery/infectious disease surgery/whatever it is that just happened to me.

I know that there will be several (okay A LOT) of posts that will cover what has happened over the last few weeks, but in a simple, non-medically trained nutshell… all of my radiation treatments caused my brain cells to die, which then caused the skin cells around my surgical/radiation area to breakdown, causing a serious infection that led to my titanium plate being exposed.  Enter an infectious disease team, a plastic surgery team and my established neurosurgery team…

I was advised that the infection would obviously have to be surgically cleared out, that my plate may or may not have to be removed, and that a portion of my stomach would have to be taken to create a new skin flap to cover the area.  Little did I know that I would wake up with my stomach now making up just about half of my head, as well as a giant incision starting from the top of my chest down my abdomen.  Oh, and my bellybutton is also now about 6 inches off from where it was just a few weeks ago.

So, I feel like Freddy Krueger and I walked into a bar and well, whatever happened, he clearly won.

I am thankful beyond words that I am alive, that I am recovering remarkably well and that I am even able to write this post, but… this time, the vanity thing is tough.

I feel like a monster.  While I know rationally, it will get better – the swelling will reduce, the bruising will fade, etc. – it’s just really, really hard this go around.

With my first surgery, you wouldn’t have known I’d even had surgery.  My hair only began to fall out a few months later due to radiation.  I thought that was hard.  However, I got a fantastic hairpiece (clip-on, not even a full wig) and absolutely no one could tell I had a bald patch hiding underneath.

Time went by and my hair started to grow back enough that I didn’t even need the hairpiece.  I only needed to style my hair the right way and all was okay.  I even left the hairpiece hidden in a drawer to get knotted and matted, thinking I really wouldn’t need it again.  How naive!

So, along came the second surgery and more hair had to be shaved down, but honestly, it wasn’t too bad.  I wasn’t going to cry over it.  Yet, once again, radiation came around.  I was actually away on my First Descents trip when my hair began falling out in huge clumps.  I stood in the bathroom at our camp site just crying while running my fingers through my hair as it immediately fell out.  Thankfully, being on a trip with cancer survivors, they all understood my hysterics.  Due to the high-dose radiation, this time my scalp looked red and severely burned (“angry” as one person perfectly described it).  It looked worse than before, but by the time it was all said and done, I wiped the dust off the hairpiece and adjusted to it all.  I also continued to rock what I like to call “the crazy bun.”  It was disappointing, sure, but manageable.

But now…since ya know, my scalp is significantly made up of my stomach, the hair will never ever grow back and it’s definitely not just a bald spot either.  (As a darkly humourous aside, my scalp now has freckles that were formerly members of my abs).  Sure, they say the swelling will go down too.  However, it’s really hard to imagine my head ever looking semi-normal or symmetrical.  There are sutures everywhere and because the plastic’s team had to connect artieries behind my ear, there is yet another incision there.

I’ve been dealing with the whole bald spot/scalp/hair issue for 2 years now.  I get it.  I had brain cancer.  I can’t expect that my head would look compleletly untouched.  However, I was not prepared for the additional disaster area of my chest/abdomen.  Again, I had brain cancer.  This wasn’t supposed to involve abdominal surgery with permanent scarring down the front of my body.  That wasn’t in the manual!

My stomach is also so swollen that I look about 10-months pregnant.  I am a very petite person.  It’s not a cute look.  In being such an intensly active person, my core was always so strong.  Now, I can’t stand up straight because of the sutures and the swelling.  I hobble around like an 80-year-old woman.

I hate that my poor husband has to look at me this way.  He is beyond amazing and justifyably tells me I’m being crazy.  He is not afraid to look at me, but I am.

I feel petty even complaining about these things.  Big picture – I’m alive!  So, so many brain cancer patients are not as fortunate.  Also, I’m sitting in my own home, on my couch, next to my incredible husband and my adorable pup.  I am not in the hospital.  I am not in a rehab facility trying to fight serious neurologic side effects.

I still do have everything.  I just wish I had never walked into that bar with Freddy a few weeks ago.  I should’ve just stayed the hell home.

 

 

 

Having a Seizure

~ Brain Cancer Babe ~ 2 Comments

I could probably come up with a more witty, more descriptive title for this post, but the experience of having a seizure is too horrifying to encapsulate in just a word or two.

I’ve now suffered two seizures in my life, just about two years apart from one another.  I’ve had some intermittent “seizure-like episodes”, which frankly would be classified as  seizures, but for me they aren’t even in the same realm as the other two seizures.

The first was a grand mal/generalized tonic-clonic seizure – the dramatic type that people generally associate with the term “seizure.”  I remember it starting, but obviously, I had no idea what was happening.

I had been having some strange sensations on my left side, almost like a feeling of electrical pulses or currents creeping up from my foot into my leg.  On one or two occasions, that feeling traveled all the way up my left side into my face.  Of course, I later learned that these were in fact seizures.  However, I thought I was perfectly healthy, in tip-top shape.  I never imagined in my wildest dreams that these episodes were seizures, let alone the first signs of brain cancer.

As for the grand mal “big daddy” seizure, it began with that same creeping feeling beginning in my left foot.  It started traveling up my side and very suddenly, my chest became extremely tight.  There was almost this warming feeling/rush too.  It’s a sensation I find hard to describe, but it’s what they call the “aura” before the seizure.  Although I could technically still breathe, I began clutching my chest.  At the time, I was wearing a baseball cap and lifted it up thinking maybe that would help give me some air.  It was at that exact moment I demanded 911.

Just after that, I lost the ability to speak and all control of my left leg.  I actually recall thinking to myself, “Why is my leg jerking like this?  I’m not telling it to do this.”  Almost like an out-of-body experience, I was looking down at myself and seeing this happening, but having absolutely no idea what was happening.  While I don’t remember the specific chronology, around the same time my left arm and head began violently jerking.  It was then that I lost total consciousness.

Apparently while I was unconscious, but the seizure still continued, my contacts popped out of my eyes.  The portion that happened while I was awake was violent enough.  I still cannot fathom what it must have been like at its peak (I guess if that’s the right term to even use).

I was taken to the E.R. by ambulance.  Looking up at the ceiling and the florescent hospital lights flashing by while I was being wheeled into the E.R., I remember the EMTs asking me my name.  I didn’t know it.  They asked me if I could tell them where I was.  I couldn’t.  All I could utter was, “I don’t know” over and over again.  Even though I can only recall a very brief portion of that time, one thought that still haunts me to this day was the feeling that this was the end.  I was going to die.

After being seen in the E.R., I learned that there was a lesion on my brain, which had caused the seizure.  Obviously, after several more tests and ultimately brain surgery, it was confirmed that I had cancer.  The strange thing though is that the seizure scared me more than cancer and I believe it has left me with so much more PTSD.

Following the surgery, did I worry the tumor would recur?  Of course.  However, if that did happen, I believed it would be a progression that I could sort through/deal with/face over a period of time.  Yet, I would never know when a seizure could happen.  I had no control over where I would be, who I was with, what I was doing, etc.  There was nothing I could do to ever prepare myself.  Sure, I took several seizure medications, but there was always that chance.  Also, for quite a long time, I believed every little sensation was the beginning of another seizure.  I truly lived in fear.

As with most things in life, as time went by, things got better.  I didn’t worry every time I left the house about what could happen if a seizure came on.  I worked out without the fear of collapsing.  My doctors cleared me to drive, although I never traveled more than a few miles on my own.  I even began feeling comfortable on the subway again, which had constantly frightened me.  (Being enclosed in an underground subway car, filled with people who aren’t 100% likely to rush to your aide, without any easy access to medical attention, was the cause of many anxiety filled days).

Ironically, just a few weeks ago I thought back on that intense, overwhelming fear of a seizure and truly relished in the fact that I had almost entirely overcome it.  And then…

As I sit here today, I am not even two weeks out from the second major seizure of my life.  So much of the fear has once again reared its ugly head, and now there’s more.

I don’t know which of the two seizures were more frightening, but as of now, the second one is winning.  If the first was “big daddy” this one was “big momma” and we all know, momma is usually scarier than daddy.

Without fully detailing the chaos that surrounded the second seizure, I had been tapering off steroids in the weeks prior due to some vague blur on my last MRI.  (It’s believed that the taper contributed to my second seizure, as no one had thought to inform  my neurosurgeon of the taper and he would have never reduced the steroid had he known, but… anyway).  During that time, all of the radiation treatments had caused my cells to die, breaking down the skin around my surgical site, and causing a major infection.  It’s never fun to see your titanium plate exposed!  So, after days in the hospital, I was finally scheduled for surgery on a Friday.  In an effort to let me rest, sleep in my own bed and prepare for at least another week or two in the hospital, I was sent home Thursday.

I went to bed Thursday evening having to mentally and emotionally prepare for my third brain surgery.  As if that wasn’t enough… I woke up at some point in the middle of the night, violently sitting up.  There wasn’t a second thought in my mind.  This was a seizure.  I don’t even think my body and mind had time to experience the “aura.”  I just knew immediately what was happening.

As I sat up, I yelled at my husband to wake up, screaming, “I’m having a seizure.  Call 911.  Get my Ativan!”  The poor man was barely conscious and yet I was in desperate need of help.  The seizure didn’t begin too intensely even though I realized what was happening.  I was even able to continue yelling at my husband to follow my orders!

The twitching began in my left leg exactly as last time and started to creep up my left side into my left arm and hand.  However, the spasms weren’t bad enough yet because I was able to actually open my pill box and take some Ativan.  Almost immediately after that though, it became very ugly.

My entire left side began to violently twitch and jerk.  My left hand became clawed and my toes were curled under.  My speech became extremely strained until I lost it completely, as I began to literally snort and drool.  I was able to use my right hand to steady myself against the bed, at least keeping me safe from falling off.

I think one of the strangest sensations during the whole experience was that I remained completely conscious, knowing exactly what was happening and worse, what could happen.  My doctor had always told me that if I ever had another seizure, I would have to do my very best to stay calm.  I never thought that would ever be possible, but this time, I did say to myself that I needed to breathe and hope that this would pass.  Frankly, my attempt at staying calm utterly disappeared at the moment I could only communicate by snorting.

And just as it had started, the jerking and twitching began to slowly subside.  I could talk again, thankfully.  However, my entire left side was basically dead.  I sat there trying to move my left leg.  Nothing.  I tried lifting my left arm.  Nothing.  I picked up my arm with my right hand, but it just flopped onto the bed like a dead fish.  My fingers also remained clawed.  I was completely convinced I was paralyzed and a hundred scenarios rushed into my head, while I imagined all the things I’d never be able to do again.

Once the EMTs arrived, I was able to communicate fully, but the sensation on my left side had yet to return.  After a few minutes of oxygen, I began to feel what I thought was another aura, but thankfully, it was actually the sensations in my extremities coming back.  Slowly, I was able to move my leg and my arm, although they were clearly weak.  I was also able to move my fingers around and no longer felt like a clawed lobster woman.  Enough time had passed that it didn’t seem likely another seizure would come on.  So it was back to my hospital, hours early for my third brain surgery with the added bonus of a sudden seizure.

It’s now almost two weeks later and once again, my 12-hour surgery is not what keeps me up at night – it’s the fear of another seizure.  I hope and pray that the feelings that consumed me after the first seizure subside again after this experience.  Unfortunately, it’s going to take some serious therapy, meds and strength of mind to get back to where I was just weeks ago.

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Here we go… again

~ Brain Cancer Babe ~ 1 Comment

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I certainly never expected to be sitting here, again, awaiting brain surgery.  I started writing this blog with the notion that I would be reflecting upon past experiences and how they affected my life now.  I also believed that sharing my experiences could possibly comfort or maybe even inspire others facing similar challenges.  I didn’t think I’d ever be writing about facing surgery once again, in real-time, live with a studio audience.  I didn’t think I’d have to get down to the nitty-gritty of infection, radiation necrosis, my skin cells dying and the multitude of things that have transpired in less than 24 hours.

It’s now late Wednesday morning.  In the later afternoon on Monday, my surgical area started to feel strange – a little tender.  I asked my husband to look at it for me (I cringe when I have to ask ANYONE to see that area, including him).  He mentioned that there was some funny greyish, bluish area he had never seen.  Of course, I immediately thought, “That sounds bizarre.”  Since my surgical area is in an awkward spot on the top of my head, which requires me to finagle various mirrors to actually see, it took me a while to get a good view.  Of course, when I did see it, it looked bad… very bad.  To my non-medically trained eye, it looked like my titanium plate had become exposed.  I know it hadn’t looked like this just days earlier.  What the hell was happening?

Thank god my team of doctors trust me with their email addresses.  I forwarded pictures of the site with the questions, “Is this my titanium plate?  Am I crazy?  Please tell me I’m crazy.”  Turns out, I was not crazy.

My neurosurgeon replied relatively quickly with the instructions to get down to the UCC.  It looked like a “wound breakdown/infection.”  He would have a fellow waiting for me.  I would need an MRI, antibiotics and admission into the hospital.  And this was all from just a picture.

I’m convinced the UCC in a cancer hospital is pretty much one of the worst places on Earth.  If you’ve never been there, consider yourself very lucky.  There are hoards of people, including patients, family members, frantic nurses and staff, and maybe a doctor or two sort of wandering around.  Everyone is at their peak of stress.  People are being wheeled in by EMTs.  There are patients lined up along the corridor on stretchers because there aren’t even enough triage rooms for them. On one occasion, I listened to an older man groan, “Help me.” over and over again.  I am fortunate enough to say, I have never been on the top priority list at the UCC.  I pray I never will be because it means things are indeed very wrong.

However, in not being a priority, you must be prepared to wait hours upon hours to be seen by a nurse, then a fellow, then maybe a specialist, or two.  One particular time, I waited over 9 hours to finally be seen by the whole UCC team.  Monday night, I waited over 2 hours to be seen by the fellow who had been specifically told by my neurosurgeon I was coming in to be admitted.  As an aside, when he found out how long I had been waiting, he just shook his head and said, “Well, I’ve been waiting for you too.”  Neither of us understood why no one listened to me about the fact that the fellow was actually waiting for me specifically.  One staff member even snarkily said to me, “We don’t just have doctors here waiting for patients.”  That’s the beauty of the UCC though… unless you adamantly demand things and frankly be pushy as hell, good luck getting anyone to notice you.  And this is at an excellent hospital.  I can’t imagine what it’s like at a less respected one.

So, what else could I do at this point?  Oh I know – wait some more.  It took over 3 more hours to get a bed for my official admission.  I fell asleep in the reception area.  When I finally woke up, there was only me and an older man in a wheelchair, who told me he had been there for almost 12 hours.  I guess I was lucky, huh?

I slept strangely well Monday night once I finally got to a room.  Ignorance is bliss I guess.  By Tuesday morning, my life had once again turned upside down.  I learned that the radiation had killed the cells around my surgical area, which had broken down the skin overlying the titanium plate causing an infection.  I would certainly need surgery.  The question was, how involved would the surgery be?  I knew that my neurosurgeon would have to again open the flap from my prior surgeries.  What we don’t know, still today, is whether the old plate will need to be removed and replaced.  My surgeon will need to debride the wound removing all of those dead cells.  What I thoroughly did not expect to hear was that now, plastic surgery will need to be involved.

Plastic surgery will have to team up with neurosurgery to attempt to cover the titanium plate, whether it is the current plate or a new one.  Since the skin around that area has now been pulled and prodded, and died from radiation, there likely is not enough skin on my scalp to cover the area.  Now, they will have to take a portion of skin from my stomach attached to an artery.  That skin must be able to survive, which is why they will need to attach an artery to allow blood flow to the area.  I am facing a potential 12-hour surgery with a recovery time of at least 1-3 weeks in the hospital.  And I thought 3 days after my first 2 surgeries was bad.

As of right now, I still don’t know when I’ll have the surgery.  It could be tomorrow, or sometime next week.  Either way, I’m scared as hell.  I had my moment of utterly breaking down, crying uncontrollably, fearing that this time I would definitely have serious side effects.  Maybe it would even be worse than mere side effects.  Maybe this time, I wouldn’t come out.  I mean, how many times can I test fate at this point?

After my “moment” I have just come to the conclusion that I cannot control what will happen – I can only control my reaction to the situation.  If I fear the worst, I will just go to that dark, horrible place.  No one wants to go there.  I’m choosing, or forcing myself, to stay calm.  I am making jokes with my surgeon and at least trying to get the residents on the team to smile.  They don’t smile much, or take humor well.  I am eating a LOT because now I have a good excuse for fattening up my stomach.  I’m editing photos from my recent trip to Costa Rica.  Friends are calling, texting, emailing and stopping in to see me.  And of course, I’m writing.

So, here we go… again.  Keep calm. It’s only brain surgery… again.