October 11 to 17

I’m approaching the mid-point of the 6 weeks of chemo/radiation and feel that the PLAN (as described above) is working well. My side-effects have been minimal:

• I am losing some hair on the top and left side of my head where the radiation is focusing. This is an inconvenience due to the frequency of cleaning the bathtub and vanity sink strainers but doesn’t really bother me.
• I am experiencing some fatigue, so I take somewhat more frequent naps.
• Over the weekend, I did experience some headaches and a touch of queasiness.
• The numbness in my right leg increased and extended beyond the foot and lower leg (where I’ve had numbness since being discharged from the hospital and going into rehabilitation for my front shin muscle). I brought this to Dr. Einstein’s attention. He indicated that this was likely due to swelling resulting from the radiation and provided a prescription for a low level dosage (2 mg daily) of steroids to control the swelling. I’ve now taken them for 2 days and the numbness is decreasing.

The radiation therapists continue to indicate that they enjoy the Long Healing Prayer that I play during the sessions. I’ve also started alternating this CD (male voice) with a recording of Christina Quinn (female voice) singing the same prayer. I sometimes now ask the therapist if she wants to hear the male or female voice.

Having various friends drive me to the radiation sessions has been a delightful opportunity to get to know them better and vice versa. I am providing each of them with a copy of the Three Tools of Healing poster, which has elicited some good conversation.

In addition to participating in the International Gliogene study, coordinated at MD Anderson Cancer Clinic at the University of Texas, mentioned in an earlier post we also had an appointment on Octobr 16^th with Genetic Cancer Specialists at our hospital. The intent is to get guidance on potential brain tumor risks and general cancer risks for the rest of our close family members. (You may recall that my son, David also has a brain tumor diagnosed in March.) The genetic assessment was a very interesting process. We had prepared a detailed family health/cancer history in spreadsheet formats, for both my son and I. The doctors reviewed them in detail and developed a very intricately annotated family tree drawing. They also asked a zillion other questions and did an overall examination of my skin, eyes, ears, and mouth. Now they will gather key data from the medical records of some family members of interest to them, including David.

During this week we also had the bounty of my mother-in-law, Kay Muttart, visiting us. She drives down from Toronto about twice a year and it is always a delight to see her. Because she’s an avid baseball fan, we watched the beginnings of two of the American League Championship Series exciting games between Cleveland and Boston. We’re delighted to see Cleveland doing so well…it’s a real boost for civic morale. (And, yes to family members who know we don’t watch TV, we got reception and could fairly clearly see the action and nothing bad happened to us from turning the TV on! J) Whenever Mom comes down, she and Susanne go into “shop ‘til you drop” mode and we enjoy eating out together.

I continued to successfully work part-time and have really enjoyed being back among my colleagues. I am planning to work as much as I am able to, around medical appointments, fatigue, etc. It’s making me happy seeing Susanne back to working part-time too.

I had my second to the last Physical Therapy session. They are clearly pleased with how well my right front shin muscle is performing and keep coming up with more and more challenging activities to continue the strengthening and test mobility and stability. One more session next week and that will be it. I plan to get a prescription from the neurosurgeon to return in December or January for certification of my ability to return to driving. You may recall, that the July 17 spasms in my leg were interpreted as seizure…thus no driving, per Ohio State Law, for 6 months seizure-free. I’m now half way to the 6-month date of January 17…YEAH!