Blogging in B Minor

I just wanted to take a moment and provide a quick update on my treatment. I am concluding my second week of radiation and chemotherapy today. Thus far, I’m happy with the progress in terms of side effects. I won’t know how effective this treatment is until after its conclusion when an MRI will be done. At that point in time, I will assess my situation – more in a minute.

In terms of side effects, I’m very happy that I’ve been spared the serious side effects that most complain about with regard to chemotherapy. Nausea and vomiting are the primary complaints and I haven’t had any of that- just a tinge of nausea in the morning so the anti-nausea med Zofran is doing its job. The main complaint I have is fatigue. This is a side effect of both the chemotherapy and radiation. I haven’t had any hair loss yet from the radiation but that will come – who cares. It will be patchy because the beams are entering my brain from multiple angles but that is ok. Probably week 4-5 it will come and obviously this is the least of my concerns.

The other objective I am working is getting my biopsy samples over to the UCSF Brain Tumor Center. You may recall, Dr. Mitchel Berger, the Chief of the Neurosurgery Department at UCSF is the doctor who saw what no one else did – that my tumor was most likely higher grade and that I should not sit on this. I feel that having my pathology run through their channel is good. I don’t expect it to come back as a “lower” grade, nor do I expect it to be a GBM (grade 4 glioma, or glioblastoma multiforme) but I want their analysis and also want my tissue samples run through their pipeline so if I decide to avail myself to their services (surgery) later, I’m all set up. The safest path is to drive there and hand carry the slides. After all, this is my brain tissue and getting it wasn’t exactly easy! So, I will leave sometime next week early in the AM and drop it there so I can be back in downtown Sacramento by Noon for my regular radiation appt. at 12:30pm. When they are done, I will go pick it up in a similar fashion. Yes, I would use FedEx but that truck could also end up in a river. Highly unlikely but I’m not willing to take the chance.

So, I get 2 days off from radiation which I look forward to. I am also starting to position for my return to work which will most likely be a telecommute scenario for the first several weeks – 5 days a week. Then I will start going in 2-3 days a week and ease back into things. I need to get normalcy and regain what I love in life professionally. My family is #1 but I’m climbing the walls! My blog here has received some nice development though! So, it will be good to get rolling on guiding the IT department again and meeting every Monday with the executive staff and doing what I enjoy doing.

That is all for now. I have also started playing music again and started writing a new song. More to come on that. It’s upbeat and the music is coming along. I have some great thoughts about the lyrical direction I want to take.

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