Living with Glioblastoma Multiforme Brain Cancer
We are about to celebrate Ted's 6 year anniversary with brain cancer. He was diagnosed on Memorial Day, May 30, 2006. He's still going strong. We had a great website for five years, but Microsoft decided to up the price and hold us ransom if we didn't pay, so I'm searching for a new site. Feel free to contact us about further health updates.
News on Temodar Sept. 05, 2008
Photo taken 14 months past
surgery on Sept. 2, 2007. I'm with my wife, Katy.
After my GBM IV diagnosis in May of 2006, I began a journey trying to locate as much information as I could about brain cancer. I typed the words "Glioblastoma Multiforme" into Google and watched as the screen turned black and my keyboard started to sizzle. My wife crumpled into a pool of tears and as far as the Internet was concerned (and my doctors) my life was over. I was given three months to a year to live after surgery, radiation and chemo (Temodar,) and was told by my oncologist that I'd "pulled the short straw."
I was 53 at the time of diagnosis and pissed off that I wasn't ever going to see my retirement years. After twenty years as a physical therapist, I became a patient.
If I could have found at least one other person living with a GBM it would have at least eased my mind a bit that I wasn't going to drop dead on the spot and it certainly would have helped my wife.
So this site is for those of you who might have been recently diagnosed or have a loved one who has been diagnosed and would like to get a glimpse of what might be ahead for you. I will show you post surgery pictures and discuss my recovery. I will also discuss radiation treatments and the drug Temodar. The zip trekking pictures below were taken just 10 weeks after my surgeon removed 95% of the orange sized tumor from my frontal lobe.
I'm doing well right now, so don't let the graphic post surgery photos on the next page stop you from exploring other pages. I do have normal looking photos of me on other pages! I'm active and enjoy traveling with my wife and a big part of my recovery includes hiking with my wife and dogs. You can click on the pictures to get a larger view.
Walking has been a major part of my recovery. In May 2007 we took a trip to NYC and clocked 8-12 miles a day. We also took a hiking tour of the Cotswolds in England in May, 2008. On one eventful day we hiked 18 miles. It was by mistake though, but we did survive! Since the diagnosis we have traveled as much as possible. We've been to NYC twice, Iowa, Illinois, England, British Columbia and Phoenix. Our lives have changed significantly. Whether we like it or not, we've been forced to live life one day and a time and in the moment. Despite the dismal diagnosis, we have found great joy in the past two years and will continue to do so. Check out the following pages to see our journey.
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He can dance too!
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Zip trekking in B.C. Photos taken 10 weeks post surgery on 8/24/06; This was one week past last radiation treatments. The helmet covered up my new hairdo! National Brain Tumor Fundraiser |
The girls. My walking and hiking partners. Walking was critical to my recovery and it still is. It took about four weeks post surgery to get me up to 45 minutes walking per day. The second and third weeks were filled with lots of breaks about every five to ten minutes. Within four weeks, I was back up to 45 minutes of walking without a break. |
