Approaching 2 Anniversaries

Next Tuesday, November 15th, is the one year anniversary of my second craniotomy. Believe it or not, this milestone may be commemorated by having another surgery.  Two cysts have formed around two older brain lesions. Their presence has created swelling and is putting major pressure on the motor and sensory areas of my brain, preventing me from moving independently. Fortunately, they are located in an area of my brain that is resectable and the problem can be resolved by removing them surgically.

The goal is to get me strong enough to have surgery in the next week or so. Ultimately, the decision on whether to proceed with surgery will be based on the following factors:

• Evaluating whether IV chemo has either halted the spread of or shrunk the cancer in my liver.
• Determining that no new areas have been affected.
• Analyzing my white blood cell count to ensure it has rebounded back to a minimum acceptable level after the last round of IV chemo. This minimum level will be critical to helping the brain tissue heal after resection of the cysts and lesions.

I will continue to post updates to the blog as we finalize the game plan. The blog will be my main source of communication. Although I appreciate email, it is currently too much effort to respond individually. Please continue to share comments and support here!

The second anniversary coming up soon is on November 20th. Keith and I will celebrate our 36th wedding anniversary. HOW AWESOME IS THAT!!!!