I have no idea how long this will last...indeed, how long I will last, but I have so many friends and colleagues and people I want to write to, and the brutal truth is that one email takes me entire morning to write. And this from the girl who can touch type despite the distinct lack of fingers.
My journey into the Cancer Nation was fast and furious. I had a really nasty headache on Boxing Day, and by New Year's Eve, found myself quite hilariously with random words coming out of my mouth, despite other intentions. I saw the doctor twice in 3 days and within the week I was unable to speak properly and couldn't feel my hand properly. The third doctor sent me to hospital immediately, and on the 11th Jan, I had the grace to have a seizure in the waiting room of the neurological unit in the Oxford John Radcliffe hospital.
I was operated on on the 13th Jan, and on the 18th Jan, I was diagnosed with a Grade 4 Glioblastoma Multiforme brain tumour. The notable thing about a Grade 4 tumour is that there no such thing as a grade 5. It is likely that it grew during November, from my brain, and nobody knows why they occur. I have no other tumour anywhere. With 6 weeks of aggressive radiotherapy and concurrent chemotherapy, plus a further 5 months of chemo the median expectancy is 12-14 months, so I'm with a chance of seeing Christmas this year.
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Sadly for me my tumour is sat right in between my speech quadrant and my fine motor skills...which means I keep losing random words in my thoughts, can't speak properly, can't type or text properly and hit myself regularly in the face with my toothbrush! It is unbelievably frustrating! I am playing with steroid doses to control the worst of the dysphasia and the dead arm, but it is not good this week, but it hasn't shut me up just yet.
Now that we've known for a couple of weeks, I'm finding my mojo and getting to grips with what needs to happen next. Already the medical team have characterised me as approaching this like a project, and I am impatient to get started on the therapy. I'm due to start now on 14th February, though I'm negotiating that....there is just the little matter of the brain operation I had which I need to give my head time to heal. I am losing that negotiation though, I got my drug regime yesterday....and I need an entire gantt chart to work that out!
So that's the news. There is a healthy amount of gallows humour in the Cornish household and I now have a load of work to, make a lifetime of memories for my little girl. I've finally figured out Facebook and will post updates and pictures, especially once I’ve got my cancer haircut. That should be interesting, I haven't seen my real hair colour in at least 15 years, and I think it's really quite white these days! Although I gather this week that it's going to fall out in attractive patches, so I'm considering the fun I'm going to have with that.....redhead?
More soon.....
