I had been having a very difficult time sleeping, so I went to see a doctor. He thought I suffered from sleep apnea, but never set up any tests. I was sleeping through the night, but waking up tired. It progressed to the point where I started stumbling around my apartment and loosing track of time. For example, I set up a second appointment with my doctor at 2pm and I called there at 4 to reschedule, because I had missed the appointment. Turns out it was 4am, and I didn’t realize it.
I developed a constant grinding sound in my head that I assumed was still due to an extreme lack of sleep. I called my girlfriend who told me to contact my parents and have them take me to the hospital in the morning. I did, and they came, and they ended up taking me to the emergency room. The way I was staggering around and talking slow (I don’t even remember this, by the way), the staff thought I was drunk or high. But my parents insisted they do further tests than just bloodwork. They did a scan and found out I had a brain tumor. I was immediately taken by ambulance to another hospital for surgery.
The surgery was rough, well the recovery anyway. Some of that, I don’t remember. The surgeon removed as much of the tumor as he could and didn’t cause any brain damage. The tumor was 9 x 6 centemeters.
They sent what they removed to Mayo Clinic for testing. It turns out it is a glioblastoma, a fast-growing, nasty cancer. I have begun chemotherapy and radiation a week ago. The surgeon gave me 12-18 months to live, but I have found a number of survivor stories online. I am trying to get signed up for a clinical trial for somethin called CDX-110, which “trains” the immune system to fight the cancer if it contains a specific protein (half of them do). But, for now, I’m keeping a positive attitude, they say that helps.
Man, that really sucks. Sorry to hear such hard news.
Though it seems like so little to offer, you’ve got my sympathy and best wishes for a positive outcome.
Yah some good news for a change. I’m so happy for you having caught this at this point. It sounds like you’ll have a recovery with with almost no major problems.
Did you mean to post this on some other thread where the poster didn’t say he has one year to live unless he gets lucky with an experimental treatment? Your post was… incongruous.
OP, I wish you all the best. It sounds like you are in the best hands you can be in.
Damn I didn’t catch that. I thought this was a caught aggressive cancer early and beat it. Somedays my reading comprehension sucks. Obviously today was one of those days.
Shit, Charger, I’m very sorry to hear this. I hope the chemo is tolerable and stops this thing in its tracks - if not, there are other anti-EFGR drugs out there, so I would think there are other choices for you.
I am sorry to hear this. If it helps, the CEO of our company has been fighting that same thing for over 10 years now – and he seems to be winning the fight, despite age and weight! I hope he (and you!) continue to win. His also began with an odd sensation (like your grinding), where he said his head felt as though he were laying on a cold concrete floor all the time. his doctor had enough sense to realise that that was not normal and ran tests.
Good luck and well wishes for you. It may be a long, hard run, but I hope you keep going!
So far, the chemotherapy, an oral pill called Temodar (Temozolomide) has not had any side effects, even though there is a list of potential side effects. I have been cautious by avoiding spicy foods and such, as one of the side effects is nausea. So far, it has been easy. I do tend to feel a little bit tired after the radiation, but not much.
One of the advantages I have that will likely help me beat the statistics is that I’m 34 years old. glioblastoma is more common among older men. And, when they test the tumor, they rate it based on the worst part of it. The surgeon mentioned that it was likely a slow-growing tumor that developed into a faster-growing type. He said that that area of the skull was thinner than normal, indicating that the tumor had been there for some time. My hope is that the aggressive parts of the tumor were removed during surgery and that the chemo/radiation will take out the rest without much trouble. I’ve been on radiation for a week now, and the same for chemotherapy and that part has been pretty easy on me. I just hope it’s hard on the cancer.
