Joined: 30 Jul 2007 Posts: 15 Location: New Zealand
Please Tell Me Your Cancer Story Posted: 08-12-07 16:15pm
I am writing a book on people who have
overcome cancer, and wanting to know:
1 when and how were you diagnosed?
2 How long if any time frame were you
given by your doctor?
3 What type of treatment did you do?
4 What were the pro's and con's of that
treatment
5 How long did it take to overcome the
cancer?
6 Has it come back?
7 How has your attitude towards life
changed since you had cancer?
Thanks woudl be appreciated
|
redneck programmer
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 16 Jan 2008 Posts: 20 Location: Frankfurt, Hessen Germany
well, ok, you asked for it (my story that is...) Posted: 01-16-08 06:43am
pre 2001: disabling headaches on a wweekly
basis. Spring 2001: extreme headaches
increasing in frequency, ophthalmologist
checks me out, sends me to MRI. MRI done
june 01: 'we found something, but we
don't know what it is'. dx 2001 thru
sterotactic biopsy: Astrocytoma grad II,
size 2 x 2 cm. 'wait and see' therapy
approach (textbook example). MRIs evry
six months until summer 2003 (tumor now 6
cm x 6 cm). 1st and 2nd debulking ops sept
2003. Followed by 1 year of hell on
earth(extreme depression).
MRI's on semi-annually basis, then yearly.
Summer 2007, tumor is up to tennis ball
size, neurological deficits start piling
up, time for another OP. OP september
2007, Tissue biopsy result: multiple
samples indicate progression to anaplastic
astrocytoma.
Post OP ring finger and pinkie on left
hand useless/painful, hydrocephalus(?) at
time of disharge (large fluid bubble on
forehead that wobbles so wonderfully when
I shake my head). January '08 control
MRI: inconclusive result (cannot
differentiate between left over tumor
mass, scar tissue, and edema- please come
back in May). Since one week, auras(?)
but no epilepsy. I'm hoping that the
cause is the extensive scar tissue. Note:
not depressive after this last op,
started working full time
2 months after discharge from hospital.
Hi I'm Katie. I was diagnosed with an
inoperable brain tumor in august 2006.
July I went to the emergency room
complaining of dizziness, fatigue,
tingling on the left side of my face. They
referred me to a neurologist and then came
the bad news. I had brain cancer. It was
by far the worst day of my life. Ive never
felt so many emotions all at once. I was
only 18 at the time. I remember sitting on
my sisters couch just wanted to die
because I was so scared. My doctors never
gave me a time frame, they always said
everyone is different and responds
differently to treatment. I was first put
on 3 different kinds of chemo because they
had to shrink the tumor before they could
use radiation. I forget what the treatment
was called but the chemo was lomustine,
vincristine, and procarbazine. Thats a
very yucky dose of poison. The first day I
threw up all day long. After adjusting the
nausea meds I seemed to be doing ok. My
mom called the special wish foundation for
me and they let me go on a shopping spree!
That was great it takes your mind off
things and it helped me alot. After two 6
week cycles of that the tumor was smaller
and it was time for radiation and another
kind of chemo called temodar. The first
few weeks of radiation were fine I didn't
notice any changes but towards the end I
was really tired, lost interest in pretty
much everything and just wanted to sleep.
I did 35 radiation treatments all
together. Its been over a year and i'm now
cancer free. I feel like im on borrowed
time. Its hard to think about the future
but I try and stay positive.
The site is not a replacement for professional medical opinion, examination, diagnosis or treatment. Always seek the advice of your medical doctor or other qualified health professional before starting any new treatment or making any changes to existing treatment. Do not delay seeking or disregard medical advice based on information written by any author on this site. No health questions and information on eHealth Forum is regulated or evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration and therefore the information should not be used to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease without the supervision of a medical doctor. Posts made to these forums express the views and opinions of the author, and not the administrators, moderators, or editorial staff and hence eHealth Forum and its principals will accept no liabilities or responsibilities for the statements made.
Schizophreniahealth
This page was last updated on June 11, 2008
