Week 4 of Break: December 4 to 12

We receieved the pathology report from Susanne’s surgery. It was benign…YEAH.

It was a week of visits with both the doctor’s responsible for my treatment as well as several alternative practitioners. As I noted in the previous post, on Monday December 3, I had my first MRI scan following the completion of the radiation treatment. The scan showed no visible tumor growth and the swelling in the brain continues to abate (YEAH!!). The primary lingering symptom I’ve been trying to get answers regarding is the neuropathy (more generic term for the numbness on my right side) symptoms. I received a variety of input on this:

• The radiation-oncologist had expected to see some sign of swelling from the radiation treatments that would explain the continuing neuropathy symptoms. Not seeing this, he was unable to explain them.
• The dietician at the Block Integrative Cancer Care Center provided a recommendation that I take l-Glutamine powder for sure, and potentially l-acetyl carnitine, alpha lipoic acid, and Vitamin B-6 supplements as well.
• My clinical dietician at Ireland Cancer Center (University Hospital) agreed that l-Glutamine would be strongly indicated.
• The hematology-oncologist indicated that it was unlikely that the neuropathy was from the chemotherapy and indicated that the Vitamin B-6 was a good idea.
• Our chiropractor adjusted me, which helped relieve some of the numbness in my back and legs.
• My sister, Nancy, did a session of orthobionomy on me, which immediately allowed me to feel full movement in all my right toes.
• I had a further session with my sister’s colleague Jeanie Anderson. She does both Total Body Modification and muscle testing of supplements, etc. Her guidance about the supplements was that I tested positive for needing the l-glutamine and Vitamin B-6 but not for the other two supplements. She also tested how well my neurotransmitters were working and identified two that needed to be re-balanced, which she did. She is also treating me for fungus and bacteria that she is indicating are interfering with my total wellness.
• The neurosurgeon indicated that the neuropathy was probably not so much cancer or radiation/chemo related but was more likely an outcome of the original brain surgery in July. He provided a referral to a neurologist to confirm this and see if there was anything further to do.
• The conclusion of all this is that, in regards to the neuropathy I am: 1) taking l-glutamine and Vitamin B-6, 2) seeing the recommended neurologist on Feb 7, and 3) visualizing reduction of the neuropathy symptoms.

To have the further session with Jeanie Anderson, we traveled back to Pennsylvania (about 2.5 hours drive) and stayed with my mother. This gave us the opportunity for much more quality time together than we had at Thanksgiving. We also had a quiet dinner and visit with my sister, which was good to do as well.

In addition to all the above medical visits, Susanne and I also got to the dentist. He said my gums and teeth are in better shape than they have ever seen them. Must be all that good nutrition! Or maybe the radiation and chemo zapped all the bad stuff :).

On December 11th, we took a break from medical stuff and participated in a book signing at the Crooked River bookstore in downtown Cleveland. The store set up a table for us in the mall next to the door for the store. It was a bit tiring, and we didn’t sell very many books, but we had a good time interacting with people and taught Character Quality Language to about 20 people.