ok how am I doing?

I'm doing OK I took all of last week off Tuesday was my first Avastin treatment and not knowing how the side effects would be I took off Wed-Fri for rest todayI worked all day and taught my 2 classes I have pretty good energy but my head rings and rumbles something fierce

Funverse #13

“Ode to a Good BM Day”3/04/ 2009

Background--

this chemo causes awful constipation; my Mom has had awful constipation problems all her life, so this is kind of a family joke

Hoorah! Now I am ready for almost anything!
let me run a mile, drive all day
What a great way to start the day, with good BM-ing!!
No grunting, no puffing, no pushing, no stretching, no wretching, no torment,
just smooth, effortless movement!
Senna pills, bran muffins for breakfast, 8 ounces of prune juice just before bed, glass of
lukewarm water first thing when I arise.
along with a little exercise
all help to get things moving smoothly BM-wise.
and, don't forget suppositories and enemas as a last resort
all help to smooth the way to a good “howʼs it ʻgoing?ʼ--report”!
just sit down and let fly. ah what a good way to use the pot.
Glorious peace of mind! today is going to be a GREAT day--I won't have to give BMs a single
thought--
ʻtil tomorrow.

The story

I had a sudden seizure back in Sept that landed me in the hospital for a week and the MRI showed a tumor in the right parietal lobe I didn’t suffer any real effects from the seizure though I can tell you it’s pretty scary sitting in your office chair at home one minute and waking up in the hospital the next and your wife tells you you had a seizure and were life-flighted to a major hospital 50 miles away. The MRI showed two fairly sizeable tumors one near the left side motor skills area of the brain. They did an “awake craniotomy” at the end of November I woke up from it with complete left side paralysis (no walking or left arm movement) and was in the hospital & rehab for a month. in January I had a month of radiation treatments and chemo. Now I have monthly chemo for a week at a time lasting 6 months or so. since getting out of rehab (where I learned to walk again), I’ve regained a lot of left side function—no handwriting or typing, though. I’ve been teaching my classes since Feb. need a lot of sleep—chemo/radiation takes a lot out of you—constant weariness & fatigue. I have developed a constant loud ringing in my right ear (65 db) from all the medication that’s a definite prayer request. they say it will subside over time. I hope soon. It’s a serious interference with productivity

best pun

Why can a man never starve in the Great Desert? Because he can eat the sand which is there. But what brought the sandwiches there? Why, Noah sent Ham, and his descendants mustered and bred.

Tumor Update

OK I've finished a month of chemo and a month of radiation therapy wears me out,I'll tell ya. I still can't do much w/left hand, no writing, no keyboarding. Shirt buttons are still hard

update

well I spent a month in the hospital and rehab I had to learn to walk(entire left side paralyzedand am learning to use left hand including writing,typing, etc.long way to go....

More info

It's a grade 3 or 4 astrocytoma. The plan is to remove as much of it as possible (hopefully 100%) in an awake craniotomy on Monday Nov 24. This is a 4-5 hour major surgery (or as long as it takes). The tumor is in the right front parietal lobe (I think I have that right), so it has the potential to affect things on my left side, (arm/hand motion, cheek/tongue muscles. It is affecting my speech a little, probably exerting pressure on some of the nerves in there.