Driving Home…

Driving Home…

Michael

Halfway through what should have been a routine trip to the gas station and home again from my small apartment on Saturday, March 26, 2011, I felt myself beginning to black out.

I fought to pull the car off the road and then blacked out. It wasn’t until the paramedics were knocking on my window and I noticed blood on my chin from a bite on my tongue that I realized that I had had a seizure. CT scan results in the ER showed a ‘mass’ in my left frontal lobe. I was moved to the ICU and subsequent MRI studies showed the mass to be a tumor.

I clearly remember my neurosurgeon (who has turned out to be a God-send) breaking the news to me. We scheduled surgery to follow the next Monday and I was placed on steroids and dilantin to decrease swelling and prevent further seizures. On April 4, I had a craniotomy in which upwards of 80% of my tumor was excised. Pathology revealed it to be a stage 3 Anaplastic Astrocytoma.

I am currently approaching the midpoint of radiation treatment (5xweek/7 weeks) and am also taking Temodar at the same time…So far, I’m just noticing some minor fatigue and my hair is thinning in the areas being irradiated (Not that I had all that much to lose pre-treatment!). I’m still working full time as a teacher and loving life each and every day. I have created a blog to document my journey.

Opinions expressed within this story belong solely to the author and do not reflect the views or opinions of the National Brain Tumor Society.