TED talk

As many of you know, I'm a huge fan of TED.com (a free online database of video talks, normally 5-15 minutes each, on a wide variety of subjects). I was mooching around on there last night and, after watching a couple of fascinating talks, I stumbled across this one...

Stacey Kramer Talk - (it's worth looking at before reading on and only takes three minutes to watch).

While I don't necessarily share 100% of her feelings, I was struck by much of what she said as she went through her talk - phrases like "bring your family together"; "reconnect with friends & acquaintances"; "re-calibrate what's most important in your life"; "challenged, inspired, motivated, humbled". I felt like she was taking the words out of my mouth, and still had no idea exactly what she was talking about.

You can imagine how stunned I was when she revealed what she was talking about. I thought it was a courageous and moving talk and just thought I'd share it.

Treatment this week (8/35 radiation 'zaps' and 10 days of chemo) has continued to go well. I've felt no additional side effects other than tiredness, and my blood tests are coming back with good results (liver & kidneys coping well), so I'm happy about that.

Anna and I just enjoyed home-made pizzas and movie night with the boys - the perfect way to end the week.
Until next time.

(If you're interested, my favourite talk so far on TED is by Benjamin Zander, on music and passion - here.)

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"