09.03.08
Posted in Brain Tumor Experiences at 9:53 pm by Administrator
At the end of June we moved away from Bowmanville, Ontario (where my brain tumour story started) to a hobby farm about 125 km farther east. Simultaneously I rented an apartment in Toronto so that I could eliminate the lengthy commute. So now I live Monday-Friday in Toronto and weekends at the farm. There’s lots of work to be done on the farm and renovations to make to the farm house. I have started a pictorial blog showing our progress which can be found here
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Posted in Brain Tumor Experiences at 9:43 pm by Administrator
Some time ago I posted about the search for a differential diagnosis after I experienced symptoms that might have been TIA/stroke, seizure or perhaps classical migraine with neurological symptoms. Recently I went to see a neurologist for a consult at the suggestion of my family doctor. My medical specialists now seem to have agreed that the most likely explanation for my symptoms (which have not recurred in the last six months) is migraine.
An interesting thing came out when I visited the neurologist…my neuro-oncologist had sent him a report on my case in which he described my tumour as an anaplastic oligodendroglioma. Since I’d not heard that from Dr Mason directly, I now had some questions for my next clinic appointment. That clinic appointment was last week. So I asked Dr. Mason, if this diagnosis made any difference after eleven years of survival. He replied in typical fashion, (paraphrasing) “well you’re still here aren’t you?” The clear implication being that if I’d really had a gbm then I wouldn’t have survived this long. Now that’s something I have long suspected, but that’s the first time I heard it from my neuro-onc.
By the way, when I asked if the diagnosis made a difference, I wanted to know if it made any difference to my treatment options if the tumour came back. Dr Mason said it would make little difference.
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