Oh friends, what a shitty title to have to write. I have 8 tumors in my brain. The cancer has now metastasized to all the spots possible with breast cancer (bones, liver, lung, brain).
So let me back up. I’ve been taking pain pills for the back pain still and on Thursday Brian noticed a few inconstancies with my memory. We chalked it up to the pain pills, but then I also noticed I was having a hard time reading off and on. Friday morning Brian was talking to my nurse Betsy and mentioned those things and she chalked it up to pain pills as well. But she mentioned it to my oncologist who called back 15 minutes later and wanted to do a brain MRI. Just in case. I mean, ALL of us just thought we were all being just really careful and of course it wouldn’t lead to anything.
So Brian and I went in to the MRI at 4pm. It took about 40 minutes and the biggest inconvenience was the noise (its SO loud to get a brain MRI, you wear noise canceling headphones with earplugs!!). We got home around 5pm and then Dr. Rinn called with the results 15 minutes later. And that’s when the world came crashing down.
The results showed 8 tumors in my brain. All of them are under 1cm, so that’s good. And only 1 is causing swelling in my brain. And that’s where the neurological issues come from (the one tumor that is causing swelling). That one is in my right posterior cortex area. I immediately started on a round of steroids that will help bring the swelling down, which is good but makes it impossible to sleep a full night (or really even more than a few hours). And the doc told me I can’t drive due to a small chance of having a seizure. So I get to be chauffeured around for the time being.
On Monday we met with my radiology oncologist to discuss brain radiation. The best news out of that was I could do brain and spine at the same time. I was so nervous I would have to put my spine treatment on hold. But we decided on a plan of 10 treatments for the brain as well as spine. The brain radiation is whole brain radiation, meaning they hit all areas (due to where the 8 tumors are scattered). I have to wear this weird hanibal lector mask that they molded especially for me (I included a super cool picture example below) when they radiate my brain. and the STRANGEST thing is I see a blue light and smell a sulfur smell when they do the brain radiation. Totally normal, but I just think that’s so odd.
So I’ll be done with radiation on Friday, 11/6. Then we’ll come up with the next plan, probably back to chemo for my liver and bones (can’t forget about those!). I’ll get a scan on my brain in about 6 weeks so we can make sure the tumors have shrunk down and are not growing back. I’ll have a lot more updates in the next few weeks, but I’m tired now and need to rest.
I so appreciate all of your thoughts and gestures lately!! I feel so loved. Brian and Colleen are managing my schedule and visits, so if you need our address or want to reach out they are the wonderful gate keepers. Colleen is at cofarley@starbucks.com. Brian is brian@brianhowe.org. More soon! xoxo
