Copy and Paste from CaringBridge website!

Quick overview, I had brain surgery on 7/17/13 in Boston at Dana Farber/BWH to remove a tumor and figure out what type it was.

We thought it was benign but it turned out to be an Anaplastic Astrocytoma (Grade 3), look it up if you want but don't let the Internet prognosis scare you! I'm young and healthy otherwise, so just stay positive!!

The next step includes treatment, 6-7 weeks of radiation mixed with chemo and an additional year of chemo (via pill form - Temodar). This will all be taking place in Albany at Albany Med and I plan on using the journal for updates.

"I have decided to be happy, because it is good for my health." –Voltaire

 

Post from 8/19/13 on CaringBridge.org website.

"Since my surgery, I have been recovering pretty well (thanks to Nonny and Pop's house) and I am now back at my apartment! Besides having to wear a headband in public, I feel pretty good today!

At the moment, we are working on getting the treatments started in Albany. So far, I have had the necessary pre-radiation MRI done at Albany last week and met my radiologist (Dr. Chandra) a few times. Minus the super annoying insurance coverage issues (potentially not being covered in Albany) we decided to go anyways to get the process moving!

Today I went in for my radiation mapping session. Such a weird experience with the whole mask they make for you (you can google it if you're interested) and overview of the radiation experience.

Wednesday I meet with Dr. Weaver, who will be my neuro-oncologist, in charge of all my chemotherapy treatments. I believe I will be meeting with her every couple weeks for blood work, check-ups, follow-up MRIs, etc. but I will know more as time goes on and will continue to post on here as I find out information. At this point, needles and MRI's seem normal!

After I meet with her, then both Dr. Chandra and Dr. Weaver have to get together and come up with a plan so that I can actually finally start!

As of now, I have been out of work for almost 5 weeks and will most likely continue to be out until late October. According to the docs/nurses, the radiation is every day (Mon-Fri for 6-7 weeks) for about 15-20 minutes but the whole process by the time you get to the hospital, park, go in, have it done and leave will be about an hour/day. Apparently radiation builds each day, so the first week I may feel exactly the same but then side effects will continue to worsen as the treatments go on. I will hopefully have an actual start date by the end of the week or early next week.

According to the doctors/nurses, I will lose hair in the spot being radiated on (extremely upsetting for a girl my age but hey, it is only hair right?!) but may not lose all of my hair from the chemo but everyone is different. Some people get really nauseous, some don't but chances of me being extremely weak & tired during the last few weeks of radiation and the following few weeks are very high. Side effects are also very different depending on the person so I just have to wait and see. My absolute LEAST favorite thing to do in the world, wait. But I have been getting damn used to that!

 

I hope this was all useful info and I'm not really sure how this site works but if anyone has any questions, I think there is a way to post them and then I can reply maybe. We'll see!"

 

<3 Erica :-)