What a weekend!

I'm writing this feeling pretty exhausted but totally content after a great weekend.

A quick word about treatment...we restarted both the radiotherapy and chemotherapy again on Wednesday, and although it's just the beginning, I am feeling a little more tired during the day. Afternoon naps have increased from around 30 mins to an hour - oh well! The good news is that, so far, they have not made me feel nauseous or ill in any other way.

On Saturday morning, Anna got up ridiculously early and went off to run her second half-marathon - the Halloween Monster Dash (hence the costume). Her Dad, the boys, and I followed on later and found a spot to watch her come past at nine miles and then take a short walk to watch her cross the finish line.

As many of you know, Anna was collecting sponsorship for the American Brain Tumor Association, and as I write, has raised over $2,500, which I think is truly amazing. I know it put an extra little kick in her stride too! From both of us, a sincere and heartfelt 'THANK YOU' for your support.

Here's my favourite photograph of Anna, looking very relaxed and happy, as she ran past us...

After lunch and a short nap, we took Patrick, six of his friends, and Richard to 'Grand Slam' (laser-tag, bumper cars, and other amusements) for his birthday party. Although we didn't see much of them, it was great to see their happy little faces running between activities. Patrick truly has a wonderful group of friends. We were proud to host a party of such well behaved, good mannered children. Patrick really knows how to pick the good ones! (This will come as no great surprise, but Richard more than held his own with the 'big kids' too).

A week or so ago, Patrick announced (as your average 9-year old does?!) that "for my birthday brunch, I'd like to go to Fletcher's" (a nearby lakeside restaurant). Admittedly, it does serve a great brunch, but y'know!
Our good friend, Daniel, came along, and helped us get Patrick's birthday off to a great start.

After some relaxing and time for Patrick to enjoy his new gifts, Anna, Henry, and the boys went out trick or treating with our neighbours. (I stayed home to scare off the local kids with my scar!)

All in all, lots of precious moments. (Oh, and Newcastle's 5-1 win over Sunderland didn't hurt either. For local friends that's like the Vikings beating the Packers 46-3!!)
Until next time.

Anticancer - a book review

Obviously I've been doing a lot of reading in the last few weeks, and I just wanted to share some of the ideas that I've learned in one particular book, 'Anticancer - A New Way of Life', that I'm trying to apply to support the medical treatment. There's nothing in this post about treatment progress, white pant suits, or yoga positions, so read on only if you're interested.

From reading this book and talking with our medical team, we've learned that cancer treatment is changing so rapidly, that it's a challenge for medical professionals to simply keep up with the science. So, I think it's completely reasonable that we research as much as possible what we can do ourselves to supplement the treatment. What I've learned has surprised me (how much can help) and I'm keen to learn more.

Dr. Servan-Schreiber's story (here) is interesting in itself, as he has twice survived brain cancer and used his medical research background to write the book.

My key takeaways:

• Reduce intake of refined sugar and white flour
• Increase intake of anticancer products - turmeric, green tea, cruciferous vegetables, and berries.
• Avoid processed foods
• Spend 20-30 minutes of physical activity per day
• Practice a method of relaxation (e.g. yoga, tai chi, etc.)

A couple of specifics on how the so-called anticancer products can supplement the medicine (obviously, there's a lot more science in the book):

• Turmeric, a spice used heavily in Indian cooking, has been shown in studies to have powerful anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, which can inhibit the growth of cancer cells. (There are some very interesting statistics on cancer rates in India vs the US, despite the different living standards).
• Green tea - I didn't realise, but black tea is simply green tea that has been further processed by fermentation, creating black pigments (theaflavins - which I guess make it taste good). The downside is that this process strips the tea of certain polyphenols which have also been found to inhibit the growth of cancer cells.

The great thing that I've noticed about the changes we've made has been the ease with which we've been able to introduce them. Adding a few frozen berries to breakfast cereal, adding turmeric and black pepper to soups and pasta sauces (the boys haven't noticed - a key measure!), drinking green tea instead of black - all simple to do and have improved the meals. Just tonight, Anna's Dad commented on how good the whole-grain rice tasted with dinner.

Well, I just wanted to share some of this as many of the measures are preventative and therefore beneficial to us as a whole family, not just as part of my treatment. Food for thought.

A lemon on sticks

The steroids that I'm currently taking, to prevent swelling on the brain, also bless me with a bloated face and rounded belly, and my legs still haven't filled out to their former mighty proportions! My surgeon, never a man to mince his words (great when you want your diagnosis in no-nonsense terms, not so great when he's describing your new appearance!) said that, among the medical profession, this look is known as  'lemon on sticks'. Great!

Anyway, the purpose of the meeting today was for him to check that the scar infection has healed correctly (it has) and that I can re-start radio/chemo-therapy from tomorrow (I can).

Here's the last of the beautiful Fall photographs, from a great walk that Anna and I took last week...

Yoga

Just back from my first yoga class and it was fantastic. Around a mile or so from here a new business has set up offering cycling and yoga classes and Anna talked to the owner a couple of days ago to see if there would be a class suitable for me. So tonight I went along for an 'introduction to yoga' and ended up having a one-on-one class, which was great. The instructor was able to spend time explaining the movements/breathing perhaps more than she would normally, and she could work on correcting my 'downward-facing dog' (it needs a lot of work!). We covered cats and cows, warriors (I and II, no less!) and tree poses - it was an education.
Anyway, it was just what I needed - enough exercise to get me stretching and moving, but relaxing enough to fit with my current energy levels. I have some things I can work on at home this week and I've already signed up to go back next week.
One happy little yogi.

Cycling, yoga, and coffee in the sun.

Mixed feelings again this week following the results of my (one-month post-surgery) MRI scan on Tuesday. The surgeon called on Thursday and told us that he was happy with how the original resection site was looking, but that there had been "changes" to the lesion at the back of my head. He wants to biopsy but only after the radiotherapy is complete (probably mid-December). We'll find out more information when we meet him again next week. So, it feels a little like we're fighting on multiple fronts, but at least they're aware of it and have a plan to monitor and address it in due course. Apart from that, I'm feeling well, the scar looks like it's healing up nicely, and we have a slightly easier week ahead of us with less hospital appointments. The course of antibiotics will finish on Friday and we're seeing the surgeon and oncologist early next week with a view to restarting treatment.

This weekend I got back on my bike for the first time since surgery. I started feeling that a daily walk around the circle with Maxi wasn't quite getting me fit enough. So on Saturday, I accompanied Anna on one of her three-mile training runs (looking very much like a personal trainer and feeling like an asthmatic pit-pony!). Yesterday we did the same route but with us both on bikes we were able to pick up the pace a little. I felt very breathless afterwards, but the plan is to try and do something like this every day (recommended 30 mins daily exercise as part of recovery) and try to build up from here.

This week I'm also going to look into starting yoga classes. Many of the books I've been reading, as well as the excellent resources I've received from livestrong, have suggested that yoga can have great benefits to the recovery process - from simply helping to relax, to improving strength and flexibility, and can help to boost the immune system. More on this later, I'm sure.

(The image just keeps building doesn't it...Hannibal Lecter practicing yoga in a Steve Austin white pant suit!)

Anna's Mum and Dad are staying with us at the moment and sharing our enjoyment of the last few warm days of October. Here we are having coffee in the sun in Excelsior...

OUCH!

On Thursday morning we had an appointment with the surgeon to check over the scar again and he quickly decided that the best way to clear up the infection was to re-open the scar, clean it out with an antibiotic flush (very strange sensation!) and re-stitch it. He also wanted to be absolutely sure that there was no infection to the bone underneath where the titanium plates have been fixed.

Anyway, to keep a short operation story short, I was into surgery within a couple of hours, they performed it under local anaesthetic (which meant I felt everything) and I was out within about forty minutes. I have to say that the incredible care I had from one of the nurses got me through the pain of the surgery - she kept reminding me to deep breathe and squeeze her hands as hard as possible ("I've never lost a hand doing this, so squeeze tight"). I won't forget her. Afterwards, the surgeon was happy that we'd done it and said that everything looked good underneath. Despite the discomfort, (I think) I'm happy we did it too.

(I know what you're thinking...titanium plates...how cool...makes me think of the 'Six Million Dollar Man'!!)

I'm now on a course of IV antibiotics for two weeks, so that's the earliest that the radiotherapy and chemotherapy will re-start.

An interesting side note on the IV drip....I came home from hospital connected to a small IV pump, which dispensed the appropriate amount of antibiotic every eight hours into a picc line in my arm. Patrick was pretty freaked out by the whole thing and doesn't even want to see it, whereas Richard is completely fascinated and wants to see exactly where the line goes into my arm, where it goes afterwards, what does it feel like? etc etc. They're funny.
Actually, the pump was a complete pain as it had to go everywhere with me, so today they switched it out so that Nurse Anna can just push in a syringe of meds every eight hours. Much better.

This weekend the weather has been beautiful and today we were able to take the boat across to our friends' place for lunch - Sunday roast with beef and yorkshire puddings - perfect! (Thanks Steve and Colette!)

"Gentlemen, we can rebuild him"

A small setback

Yesterday we found out that the scar on my head has developed an infection. So, for now, the surgeon has put the radiotherapy and chemotherapy on hold until the antibiotics can clear up the infection. It's knocked me a little as I was all psyched up to get on with treatment this week and now have to stop after just two sessions of radiotherapy and one chemo tablet. Still, we were told that the optimum treatment timetable is 3-8 weeks from surgery, so we're still well within that and I now have another week to build up to it.

It might also give me the opportunity to have my 'last' whiskey all over again. Obviously, I'm giving up alcohol once the treatment starts and last Saturday I decided was the night to savour my last single malt for at least 6 months. Oh and it was goood.....a smooth, mellow glass of Balvenie Doublewood over a couple of ice-cubes....bliss!

Here's a photograph from today's walk around the circle with Maxi...the Fall colours are getting better every day and the sunny skies are setting them off a treat this week. Long may it continue, and hopefully when I write next I'll be back into treatment.

Hannibal Lecter, drugs and books.

So, I had my first session of radiotherapy today and, although it's very early days, it wasn't that bad. I was on the bed for around twenty minutes in total and probably half of that was used for setting up. They put on my Hannibal Lecter-mask (actually it's not that gruesome - it's just a moulded-plastic mask that keeps my head in place, but that's how I picture myself!) and then take some x-rays to make sure I'm in the same spot every time. The treatment itself lasted around seven or eight minutes and I've somehow developed the ability to slip into a zen-state of mind while I'm lying there. I really want them to hit the right spot, y'know! The other major challenge is filtering out the 80s rock ballads and other terrible radiographer-choice music cuts...I'll let you know how that goes.

A favourite moment from today was the look on Anna's face as she handed me the drugs haul from her visit to the pharmacy while I was having treatment. Even though the drugs are covered by medical insurance, the price of each drug is listed and Anna handed me the paper bag as you would pass someone a bag of explosives. "Here's $15,000 worth of tablets...don't drop them!!"

Books update (as a few of you have asked). 'Late Nights on Air' was excellent - more for the wonderfully-crafted characters and the rich descriptions of Northern-Canada than a pacy plot. In the end, I didn't want it to end, so that's a pretty good measure of a great book for me.
I'm currently half-way through Paul Auster's 'Invisible', which is absolutely unputdownable (thanks Janis!).
Today I also finished the first chapter of 'The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes'. I've found that there are loads of books that can be dowloaded to the iPad for free simply because they're out of copyright. (Yes, you can add 'cheap' to 'stubborn'!). So, I might add a few classics to the great list of suggestions that I received on the calmer books post.

Actually, I'm missing the midnight reading time a little (although I'm sure Anna's not). There was something quite nice about passing a couple of quiet hours in the still of the night with a great book.

Mayo Clinic

Anna and I drove down to the Mayo Clinic on Wednesday afternoon. It's only a couple of hours south of here but we wanted to leave enough time to have dinner and get to bed early enough for the 5.30am start the next day. We went for a very good Italian meal, (I'm enjoying my last few opportunities to have wine as I'll be tee-total from Monday), and really enjoyed some quality time together.

The clinic itself is very impressive, unlike any other hospital Anna or I have ever been to. I had some blood tests first thing and then we had a 45-minute consultation with one of the oncology doctors. As I said before, the main reason to visit with Mayo was to get a second opinion on the treatment plan, but also to get more information on clinical trials for other treatments, should I need that option down the road.

There was one change that came out of the visit. When I had the first MRI scan that revealed the tumour in early September, there was another lesion at the rear of my head that showed up on the scan. The doctors couldn't say exactly what it was. The initial treatment plan proposed to target the radiotherapy at the primary tumour site and monitor the other one over the coming months. But, in consultation with one of the Mayo oncology professors, a neurosurgeon, and a neurologist, they suggested that it makes sense to target the radiotherapy on this rear lesion as part of the current treatment. As the chemotherapy is blood-born, it will target the rear lesion anyway. The Mayo team have since contacted the local team to make that proposal.

I'll be honest, it has been a tough few days. Every time we hear the doctors talk about this type of tumour (glioblastoma multiforme), and the poor prognosis that typically comes with it, there are some low moments that follow. Perhaps just having had more time to ourselves over the past few days has allowed us to process some of the information and made us realise what we're up against. I'm sorry to put it so bluntly, but I do want this blog to be authentic.

All of that said, we are still mindful of the factors going in our favour...my age, general fitness, the successful surgery, and excellent medical care. And we keep coming across different stories of people who have survived (19 years and counting, one guy we heard about yesterday) this kind of tumour. I just have to look for a moment at my beautiful family to find the strength and courage to fight this thing head-on. On Monday the fight begins...I'm ready.

It's funny how you don't necessarily think of yourself as a stubborn, strong-willed person as you go through normal life, but the number of people who have told me lately that those are the traits that are going to get me through this is starting to make me wonder! My boss told me to take it as a compliment, so I will for now and channel them into the next few months. (Please feel free to tell me to reign in the stubborness when I get back to work though, eh!)

I just want to end on a word of thanks to our close friend, Carla - she stayed overnight with the boys while Anna and I went down to the Mayo, and it was such a good feeling to know that the boys were not just in good hands, but having great fun (and pickles for breakfast!). Thank you Carla.

(Sunset from Cádiz)
I'm attaching a photograph that a kind friend from Seville sent yesterday with a note that touched our hearts - muchas gracias Pepi!!