As bad/good as it could have been, I’m sitting in Manchester International Airport content with how the last week has turned out. One of the worst things a cancer patient can hear is that what they thought was their dormant tumour has started growing again, as I heard last Thursday 28th May 2015.
After speaking with my neurosurgeon last night, Dr Karabatsou, and with my oncologists today, Dr Tran and Dr Pinkham, I’m in a much clearer head space. ‘Prepare for the worst and hope for the best’ was a piece of advice Julian Huxley gave me last year. Julian is another brain tumour patient and a former professional rugby player. This mentality has prepared me well for this week.
Dr Karabatsou recommended against having brain surgery again, stating the risk was too high for such minimal gains as she resected much of the tumour in April 2014.
As I’ve already had 6.5 weeks of radiotherapy, the human body cannot take more so that is no longer an option.
Dr Tran and Dr Pinkham advised me of several chemotherapy options. Some more toxic than others, but all as effective as each other. They ran me through everything, what to expect from each type of chemo, how long they would go for, how I could travel and most importantly – Enjoy Life!! As there was not much difference in how effective they thought each of the drugs would be, we settled with Temozolomide. A tablet I will take once a day, for 5 days each month, for 6-12 months.
I can start treatment in the UK, and continue it in Australia when I get back in 3 weeks. One good thing is that they cleared me to fly to Portugal tonight, which I arranged months ago. I will be able to see a few good friends for the last time on this side of the world, before I jet-set back to Australia to settle down again!
No matter what life throws at you, prepare for the worst, hope for the best and take it all in your stride as life is all just one big adventure!! I’ll close this blog with a quote from Abraham Lincoln:
In the end,
It’s not the years in your life that count,
It’s the life in your years…
