I am blessed to have followers and supporters who have been asking how I’m doing and noting that there’s not been a great deal of blogging going on. I recently had a talented friend and career/relationship coach (see Jolene Watson’s Clarity Coaching) do a Myers Briggs analysis with me, and found I’m an intuitive thinker. I use that as my excuse – I need to process things before I write about them, and writing about them helps me crystallize and process them. Okay?
For whatever reason, being in the midst of the treatment treadmill has definitely slowed down my writing. That’s a whole post for later on.
For now, quick update. I can see by my blog record that my last post was 161 days ago, and that I was about a week away from finishing six weeks of combined daily radiation and chemo treatments. After that I had a month off from treatment for recovery, and spend most of it suffering through the side effects of tapering off the steroid I’d been on during radiation. Spoiler alert – this steroid did not give me bulging ripped muscles, as I’d rather fancifully imagined it might. Rather, over the three months I was on it, I gained 30 pounds (on a 110 pound frame) of bulging puffiness, a great deal of manic energy that hit between 2 and 11 am, and a voracious appetite (see previous note re weight gain).
In January, I started a different kind of treatment routine in follow-on chemo. This has involved one week of oral chemotherapy per month, for what will soon be six months. My whole treatment experience divides into neat chapters in my mind: diagnosis and watchful waiting; tumor progression; surgery and recovery; combined radio/chemo and recovery; then follow-on chemo. Each of these is full of experiences I will share in future, in the hope that someone else will find some help in them, and in slavery to my own selfish intuitive thinking processes.
The month of May 2016 is the first time we will see a coordinated brain tumor awareness month between Canada and the US. So we are encouraged to #TurnMayGrey. This will be a month for sharing information and experiences with brain tumors, for patients and caregivers, and for advocacy and awareness building. I ask myself, what better time to breathe a little life back into Greymadder? Stay tuned. For now – I’m still here, and I’m keeping on keeping on!
greymadder 
So glad to hear from you! Been wondering about you the last 2 months.
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Hang in there, there is hope. I also had a brain tumor removed and I’ve made it through 2-years.
GM
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Thanks Greg, I am always pleased to hear stories from others! Best wishes for many more years!
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So lovely to hear from you! Thank you for being a pioneer with ketogenic eating as it relates to your brain tumor. It was your blog posts, and articles about you that helped my husband and I through his cancer this last year. I love your Facebook group for ketogenic eating and cancer, and because of you, I am now embarking on my own quest to eating ketogenic foods to help my own health conditions: prediabetes, thyroid, asthma, ADHD, and bipolar disorder (I’m on the spectrum). My husband is now in remission, his tumors have shrunk, I am no longer considered “prediabetic” and my blood sugar levels are mostly under control, and I am on zero meds for everything else (including asthma). You are my shero! Keep on, and post when you feel like it. Your posts feel like gold to me. (And I’m sure, to others.)
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Wow, thank you so much, you don’t know how much that all means to me. I am so impressed with the changes you and your husband have made, of course I know firsthand how difficult it is, and I’m so encouraged to hear of your success. Thank you for reading.
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Thank you. Best wishes.
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Congrats on your ‘can do’ attitude. I’m a bit ahead of you with rounds of chemo all over and two clear scans under my belt. IT IS POSSIBLE. For more of my success story drop in on http://www.bobtheblobsblog.com.
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My 29 year old daughter will soon be on her third round of chemo (temodar) after chemo/proton radiation (1/2016) and surgery (10/2014) . She has found essential oils to be helpful too. She uses sacred frankincense and lavender and some others that help with any anxiety. No more Xanax. She goes this Monday (May 16) for an MRI. She is also working as a hair stylist/colorist.
I have read your blog and find it so helpful and encouraging. I really missed it when you were
not writing. I hope your treatment helps you so much! As always sending healing best wishes
and prayers to you. Dena
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Dana, thank you for reading, and for your good wishes. I wish the best for you and your daughter.
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I just came across your blog and I thank you for sharing your experiences and insight. I am very new to the blogosphere, so still trying to navigate it! I am a two-time brain cancer survivor/fighter/thriverI I especially appreciate your posts on the ketonic diet, as I’ve been grappling with all of the overwhelming information on nutrition and cancer. I’m really looking forward to delving more into your blog and following your continued journey. ❤
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Thanks for reading, it’s always inspiring to me to “e-meet” thrivers!
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