you just got scheduled for brain surgery, what are you gonna do?

Just to clarify, I scheduled my ommaya port insertion for June 18th.  It should be much easier than my craniotomy in September, but I am going to get another hole drilled in my skull.

The picture is an all too subtle reference to the fact that Keith and I are off to Disney for the weekend.  There is a new ride associated with the Cars movies from Pixar and we're headed to a sneak peak.  It should be some silly fun!

A Gorgeous Weekend and the Beginnings of a Plan

First, we had a great long weekend.  We kept it pretty lazy Saturday and did a couple things around the house.  On Sunday we took Red up to the hills for a hike at Sibley.  The wildflowers were really putting on a show.  I was feeling pretty good so we did the long loop.  Inspired by that hike we decided to head to Point Reyes the next day.  We don't go as often as we used to because there aren't many trails that allow dogs there.  So we took Red for a quick trot around the neighborhood and off we went.  It turned out to be a nice clear day at Point Reyes and we had another gorgeous hike.

That's me there, almost to the top...

Looking towards Chimney Rock.

On to the plan...My medical oncologist called today with the first step in my plan.  There is too much activity for radiation at this point, so that's out.  She is suggesting I do what is the "standard of care" in this situation which is intrathecal chemotherapy with methotrexate.  Before I start the chemo she wants me to get a lumbar puncture (Monday afternoon, woo hoo!) to see if they can detect the cancer cells in my spinal fluid.  Apparently this isn't the most reliable test, there are a lot of false negatives, but nonetheless I need to get it done as a baseline before starting anything.  After we get the results of the lumbar puncture I'll get more details on what comes next, but from the sound of it, at first they'll do another lumbar puncture to administer the chemo but eventually I'll have something called an ommaya reservoir put in by my neurosurgeon (it's like my portacath, but it'll dump the chemo into my central nervous system instead of my bloodstream).

I'll know more after the procedure on Monday.  The doctor doing it is the brain metastasis specialist and hopefully I'll get a chance to pick her brain about all this stuff.  Until then we carry on.  I've got to get this house vacuumed- it's shedding season and it's getting out of control here.

Can't Seem to Catch a Break

So, my left shoulder has been bugging me for the last month or so.  It felt like a pinched nerve or tense muscles, something I'd felt before, so I was going to wait it out but it just didn't go away.  After talking with my oncologist about it, she wasn't too concerned- she gave me a referral to physical therapy and an MRI just to be sure.  Well, I had the MRI yesterday and today my medical oncologist (my main doc) called.  There is cancer in the lining of my spinal cord.  My medical oncologist is surprised and disappointed.  I am too, I really didn't think this MRI was going to show anything but a pinched nerve, urgh.

My medical oncologist has a call into my radiation oncologist.  She wants to know if it's feasible to do some radiation to relieve the pain.  If so, I'd get radiated and then I would start a trial of a chemo designed to target central nervous system metastases.  I should hear back from my medical oncologist tomorrow or early next week.  As usual, I'm anxious to finalize "the plan".   Until I know what comes next I need to remember I'm still feeling good.  In fact I got the call while taking good old Red for a trot.

Hearing-

-Aid is in and it works (and it isn't super uncomfortable).  Went down to San Mateo with Keith to get my hearing aid.  I fucked up and thought the appointment was at 2:30, when in fact it was at 1:30 (really, it's miraculous that this doesn't happen more given how many appointments I have).  Thankfully the doctor was willing to fit me in at the end of her day (4:30).  Keith and I took a little stroll around the neighborhood and enjoyed the fine spring day.

The hearing aids are tiny, really pretty hard to see if you aren't looking for them (pictures coming).  It's going to take me a while to get used to them.  It doesn't make it so I hear out of my bad ear, it just "broadcasts" the sounds from my left ear to my right ear.  It sounds a little tinny, but I think I'll take it!  I'll go back to see the Audiologist in two weeks to make the necessary adjustments.

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggity Jog

Keith and I are back from a quick trip back east to see my family. While I've seen my mom and sister recently, it'd been entirely too long since I'd seen my niece and nephew. It was great to see everyone! Keith did his son-in-law duty and fixed a couple things around the house.  I had fun putting together a giant bubble blowing contraption (so fun, I might have to make one for myself).

We got back Tuesday night.  I took it easy yesterday and today I had an echocardiogram (to make sure my treatment isn't damaging my heart muscle- it isn't, I still have an ejection fraction of 61%) and my Herceptin drip.  Things went smoothly and I hustled home on the BART.  Keith picked me up at the station and we had lunch together.  It was a good day.

12:21

Got an email from my medical oncologist at 12:21 saying that everything is shrinking (nothing new showing up and nothing getting larger). I love that she lets me know so quickly! My MRI was yesterday at 5pm, so I expected that I might have to wait all weekend. Whew! What ever little headaches I'm having are not from cancer growing in my head. What a fucking relief this is. Lets hope things keep shrinking!!