Tumor Treatment Update

I went to the radiation doctor, Dr. Zarkoob, last Tuesday for my initial consultation with her. My neurosurgeon set me up with Dr. Zarkoob, as he has worked with her several times in the past. I liked this doctor and everyone in the office very much. After talking with the nurse for a while for her to take my history, I finally got to meet the doctor. She had been able to see my pre- and post-surgery MRI and CT scans before meeting with me. She explained that I would need 30 radiation treatments on the remaining 2 cm of tumor that the neurosurgeon was unable to remove in surgery. My neurosurgeon initially guessed that I would need 20 treatments, so hearing 30 treatments was a little shocking. I'll need daily treatments, Monday-Friday, for 6 weeks. We asked about the probable side effects from the radiation treatments, but Dr. Zarkoob wasn't really able to answer that question because she said that each person is different. I can definitely expect all of my hair on my head to fall out. The doctor said that it will take 3-4 months after the treatment is over before it will even start to grow back, so that will be the springtime. I'm just happy that Dr. Zarkoob did not try to sugarcoat my hair falling out, like the neurosurgeon did. She was straightforward about the hair loss, which actually made me feel a little better about it. It definitely still sucks that I'm going to be bald, especially in the winter, but it is what it is. Other side effects will probably include being really tired and I might get nauseous, have headaches, and/or blurry vision.

The next day, on Wednesday, I went back to the radiation doctor to have a special mask made that I will wear each day of my treatments. The point of the mask is to basically bolt my head to the table so that I am in the same exact spot for my treatment each day. They will shoot the tumor with the radiation from a different angle each day so that minimal "good" brain is killed in the process of killing the tumor. The mask is a hard plastic mesh type material. They heated up the plastic so that it was pretty warm, and then molded it onto my face while I was laying on the radiation table. Then they bolted the mask to the table until it cooled and hardened. I could breathe just fine because of the mesh pattern, but I sort of felt like I couldn't because it was so tight over my nose and mouth. I think they are going to cut holes out where my nose and mouth go before my treatments start to make the mask more comfortable. After the mask was made, they did some CT scans on me so that the doctor could use the those images and a computer program to map my exact treatment plan.

On Thursday of last week, I met with my oncologist, Dr. Noga, who will be administering my oral chemotherapy. He had not spoken with the radiation doctor prior to my appointment, even though Dr. Zarkoob assured me that she would call him before the appointment. I was sort of mad about the lack of communication between these two doctors, because Dr. Noga couldn't give me any concrete details since he had not heard about the radiation plan directly from Dr. Zarkoob. The only information that he had about my treatment was what I learned over the past two appointments that I went to the two days before and explained to him. However, he explained that I will be on the oral chemo pills because they work in tandem with the radiation therapy to enhance the overall killing potential of the two drugs on the tumor. I will either take a low dose of the oral chemo over the entire 30 days of the radiation treatment or I will take a higher dose for only about a week at the beginning of the radiation. Dr. Noga assured me that he would have a better answer about the chemo plan after he talks to Dr. Zarkoob about her radiation plan.

So, from what I know now, the radiation treatment should start in the next week or two, after the radiation doctor finalizes the plan in the computer. She will communicate with the oncologist, who will then make his plan for the oral chemotherapy. I am waiting on the radiation doctor to call me back for another appointment, then I will make an appointment with the chemo doctor. After those two appointments, the two treatments will start. Again, the radiation will last six weeks, which will take me almost up through Christmas. So, I need to get my shopping on!

Peyton's Birthday Party

Peyton went to a birthday party for one of his friends at a place called Pump It Up a few months ago. It's a party place with several moonbounces as the entertainment. He had such a great time that he wanted to have his birthday party at Pump It Up too. We had his party the weekend after his birthday, on October 16. Here's Peyton at the start of his party. He's wearing his special birthday hat that his teacher made him at daycare for his actual birthday.

Hunter was there enjoying the party too.

There were two party arenas, each with four different moonbounces. The kids were in the first arena for about 40 minutes, then they switched to the other arena for another 40 minutes of jumping. This sign was in the first arena, wishing Peyton a Happy Birthday!

There were several different types of moonbounces, like an obstacle course, basketball court, and a few plain spaces for the kids to just jump. There were also other toys to play with, like bouncy balls, the Little Tikes car, and this block pit.

Kyle even got Hunter in on the action, taking him down the huge slide. I think they both liked it!

This is Peyton and his BFF Levi. They are only two weeks apart in age, so they have been together at daycare from the first day that Peyton started there. They are pretty inseparable.

Here is a group photo of all of the kids that were at the party. I think everyone had a really good time. Most of the parents even enjoyed jumping in the moonbounces.

After 40 minutes in each of the play arenas, the kids headed back into the party room for food, cake, and a few presents. Here is Peyton's cake. He chose to do a Mickey Mouse theme again this year.

As soon as the kids entered the party room, they put Peyton in the special throne and sang Happy Birthday to him. Then, the party organizers cut the cake while the kids ate their lunch of chicken nuggets, french fries, and juice.

Here is a picture of all of the kids while they are eating their lunch.

Peyton really enjoyed his chicken nuggets. He was also pretty excited for the blue juice, which he had never had before. Little kids get so excited over the smallest things, which is super cute.

We had pizza for the adults. Kyle seemed to like it.

When the kids were finished eating their chicken nuggets, the party organizers passed out the cake. We went with a marble cake. It was quite yummy.

The time in the party room went by really quickly, so Peyton only had time to open his gifts from my parents. He got to sit in the big blow-up throne again. My parents gave him a Harley Davidson motorcycle tricycle on his actual birthday. They also got him a bike helmet, a Ravens outfit, and Chutes and Ladders.

We just took the rest of Peyton's gifts home with us, and he opened them after dinner. He was surprisingly patient waiting to open his presents. He also got bored several times with opening the gifts. He just wanted to play with everything as he opened it. He got lots of fun things, like Uno Moo, the I Can Do That game, some Matchbox cars, a few Mickey Mouse Clubhouse DVDs, some Lincoln Logs, and other puzzles and toys. All of his friends and our family were very generous, so thanks again to everyone for the gifts!

Peyton had a really good time at his birthday party. I'm so thankful that we had it at Pump It Up because Kyle and I didn't have to do anything really. We had four party organizers that took care of everything for us, from setting up the food, gifts, and decorations to cleaning up the room after the party was over. I was so worn out anyway. I can't even imagine how tired I would have been if we would have had the party at home...

Happy 3rd Birthday Peyton! I can't believe you're three already and I love you so much!

Peyton's 3rd Birthday

Peyton's birthday celebration started out on October 10, which was the day that I came home from the hospital. Kate, Dave, and Noah came up to our house that morning to watch Peyton and Hunter for a little while so that Kyle could hang out with me at the hospital. They brought Peyton's gifts up with them. They got Peyton a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse puzzle...

And a Dr. Seuss Memory game,

And Hungry Hungry Hippos.

He loved all three of those gifts, so thanks guys!

On Peyton's actual birthday, October 12, we cooked up some spaghetti for dinner. Grandmom, Pop-Pop, Uncle Jeremy, and Jill came over for dinner, cake, and ice cream. We sang Happy Birthday to Peyton and he blew out his candles.

I think he really enjoyed the cake and chocolate ice cream!

After cake, Peyton opened some gifts. First he opened the things that Kyle, Hunter and I got him. We hooked him up with two sets of Little People animals. He has had the farm set since his 1st birthday and he still plays with it all of the time. He liked the extra animals that we got him.

We also got him the Dr. Seuss book called Happy Birthday to You.

We also got Peyton a big two-sided floor puzzle.

His last gift from us was a Deluxe Marble Race toy.

Grandmom and Pop-Pop gave Peyton this Harley Davidson tricycle. We're going to take it back to their house so that he can ride it while he's there. They got him some other things too, but we saved those for him to open at his birthday party.

Uncle Jeremy and Jill gave Peyton half of his gift, which was a Curious George Memory game.

After Peyton opened all of his gifts, he wanted to play with the Marble Race toy. Kyle and Jeremy spent lots of time building up a few towers for the marbles to ride down. I don't know who had more fun with this toy - Kyle and Jeremy or Peyton.

Peyton was worn out that evening from those gifts, so we saved some more for the next day. He opened a Toys R Us gift card from Aunt Donna and Uncle Tom. (I love the tongue.)

Peyton also got some money from Grandpa Moreau, Nana Moreau, and Grandma and Grandpa Rohner.

From Uncle Adam, Aunt Suzie, Adam, Branden, and Hailey, Peyton got Toy Story 2, some jeans, a t-shirt, and some Mickey Mouse pajamas.

Thanks to everyone for the gifts! Peyton had his actual birthday party on Saturday, October 16. I'll write about that another time though.

Brain Tumor...

I have been getting migraines for at least 10 years. They were diagnosed back in college, and I was put on some medicine to take each day to prevent them. The medicine worked well and I'd usually only get the headaches around my special time of the month (TMI, I know....) or when I was very stressed with school. When we started to try to get pregnant with Peyton, I had to go off of the medication. I had a migraine for the first four months of my pregnancy with Peyton. It sucked... a lot, especially because the only thing I could take was Tylenol and that didn't even help, so I just suffered for months with a never-ending headache. I made it through though. After Peyton was born, I went back on the medicine and was back to only getting headaches once in a while. When we started trying to get pregnant with Hunter, I went off the medicine again. Thankfully, while pregnant with Hunter, I didn't get migraines at all.

Just before Hunter turned three months old, at the end of September, my headaches started getting worse again. I had added symptoms of pain at the back base of my neck and vomiting once in a while. My mom had a condition called Chiari Malformation a few years back and had to have brain surgery to deal with that. I knew that condition was hereditary, so I wanted to go back to the doctor to have him examine me again. Luckily, I had my mom take me to that doctor appointment because my head hurt so bad that I didn't even trust myself to drive. She has the same doctor as me, so I think him seeing her with me made him think that maybe I had the Chiari Malformation too. He told me to go get an MRI as soon as possible. I made the appointment for the next day, which was Friday, October 1.

I drove myself to the MRI because I was feeling alright that day. They loaded me up into the MRI machine and started the test. It was really loud and tight in the tunnel and it sounded like a jackhammer in my head. I was supposed to have the test without any contrast material injected into me, but half-way through the technician came in and said that the doctor on staff wanted me injected with the contrast so that he could see something better. I knew right away that that couldn't be a good sign... So they shot me up with the contrast material and started the test again. As soon as I got out of the MRI, the doctor said that he saw a "lesion" on my brain and that I had an immediate appointment already made with a neurosurgeon. I didn't trust myself to drive to that appointment by myself, so I called Kyle and he picked me up at the MRI office to drive me to the neurosurgeon.

At the neurosurgeon's office, he explained that I actually had a 6 cm brain tumor. It was located right at the front of my head, off a little to the left. He said that he was 99% sure that the tumor was not malignant because it homogeneously picked up the contrast material. He thought that the tumor had been growing for maybe five to six months, but that it needed to be removed right away. He got me scheduled for surgery only four days later on Tuesday, October 5. He also promised me that I wouldn't have headaches anymore after the surgery. I'm praying he's right about that!

I went to the hospital the day before the surgery to have my pre-op testing. They needed to take some blood and do another MRI to pinpoint exactly where the surgery was going to take place in my brain. Here is the last picture of my with all of my hair, the night before the surgery.

Tuesday morning we needed to be at the hospital at 6:00 am. The boys stayed the night before at my parents' house so that we didn't need to worry about them. My dad met us at the hospital and my mom stayed home with the boys to keep her occupied. Here's me right before I went in for the surgery. Sexy, huh?

I went in for the surgery around 7:30 am. The surgery took at least 5 hours, I think. I don't think I ever really woke up for the rest of the day. Kyle and my dad just hung out at the hospital all day waiting for me while I was in surgery. The doctor gave an update or two, but mostly just worked on me. I guess while I was in surgery two other people got put on life support due to botched surgeries. That didn't instill much confidence in Kyle or my dad, but I turned out ok! I think Kyle said both of those other people ended up dying that day.

There was a video board that was supposed to update my guests throughout my surgery, but I don't think the doctors actually used it. Finally, Kyle was getting antsy, so he checked on me and it turns out I was back in the recovery room, but no one alerted him or my dad that my surgery was finished. They let them come back to see me though, even though I don't remember talking to them at all. After the recovery room, they moved me to the ICU. Again, I don't really remember anything from that evening because I was still sleeping off the anesthesia. I was in the ICU until Friday. I had headaches during the day on Wednesday and Thursday and it took lots of different pain medications to get a handle on them. I think the doctors said the headaches were due to the pressure in my brain from the surgery and the position that I was sitting/sleeping in. I mostly slept through my days in the ICU too due to all of the medicines. They moved me to a regular room Friday around lunchtime and then I was discharged from the hospital on Saturday afternoon. The doctor said that was he able to get about 80% of the tumor out. The remaining portion couldn't be removed due to its location in the brain.

Here I am after I got home from the hospital. I especially loved my black puffy eyes and bruises all up and down my arms from the millions of times that they needed to stick me to take blood while I was in the hospital. In fact, I still have a black eye and bruises on my arms, and it's been two weeks since my surgery. I look like a crack whore. It's awesome, heh.

I went back to the neurosurgeon on Friday to have my bandages and staples removed from my head. Kyle said that there were about 40 staples in my head. Obviously this was the first time that I saw my shaved head. It's shaved like a mullet and it doesn't look good! I was pretty sad when I saw it for the first time. I still haven't cried about it, but I want to. The rest of my hair has been falling out in clumps, which is also pretty depressing. I might end up having Kyle shave the rest of it. But in the meantime, I've bought some "cute" scarfs and a hat to wear in public. I know in my head that it is dumb to be so sad over losing my hair, but at the same time, it's a big deal!

I have a consultations with two more doctors tomorrow and Thursday. I will need some radiation therapy and oral chemotherapy doses to get rid of the other 20% of the tumor that the surgeon could not remove. I will update with the details from those appointments after I go to them.

It's been a pretty stressful time lately. Not only do I have a brain tumor at 28 years old, but I'm being laid off from my job at the end of the month and as of right now, I carry our health insurance. Hopefully the transition to Kyle's insurance will be smooth, because I don't know what we'd do if I was denied coverage due to my preexisting condition. I just have to pray that everything will work out...