I'm sure you all remember me talking about me having vertigo and just generally feeling extremely dizzy and light-headed etc. Well, I do not have vertigo.
Things here took a turn for the worse on Monday 1st April when I had my brain scan...
Monday we found out that the cancer has spread! The cancer is throughout my brain... there are lesions throughout my brain. I have one large lesion in the back of my brain that has been pressing on the tube that provides the brain with the fluid it needs. They gave me steroids straight away to relieve the symptoms and they really helped, within a few hours actually.
I had whole brain Radiotherapy for 3 weeks to help shrink the lesions and to stop some of the symptoms I am feeling. I feel so much better. I actually feel pretty much normal again. I am able to walk properly, I am not dizzy, I am even able to drive again! Yay!
We met with my new Brain Oncologist last Tuesday to talk about what happens now that I am done with Radiation. I will be meeting with her once a month to check in and make sure that my symptoms are still holding back and in 3 months I will have another brain scan to see what's going on. I know you are all thinking... 'What? No scan for 3 months?' but I don't need a scan... there is nothing to check yet! I had no idea, but the Radiation keeps working over time so once I reached my prescribed dose of Radiation, I just get on with things and let it do it's job and kick these lesions butts!
My doctor is already very encouraged that the Radiation is working because my side effects are so much better and we are already reducing my steroids dosage. I am already at a quarter of the original dosage. She also told us that there is a good chance that the Radiation could even kick the cancer out of my brain!
I will also meet with my normal oncologist in May so we can get my chemo going again to keep the lung lesions at bay too! It's all go, go, go here!
As you can imagine, the last 3 weeks have been extremely stressful and busy with daily trips to hospital, lots of sleeping and naps as well as just coping emotionally with the news.
We are extremely hopeful and encouraged that the Radiotherapy will help, but we are ultimately facing the end of our battle. Once the cancer gets to the brain, it is only a matter of time till our life changes drastically. We are planning on living our lives as normally as possible until things change... We have no idea what our time line is and I don't want to know... I don't want to live the rest of my life with a ticking clock.
