Side effects - hair loss

Here is a picture taken the night before surgery

The post surgery picture is in one of the earlier posts

Here are a couple of good looks at the effects of the radiation therapy

First response to hair loss

More aggressive response

Comments

I just received an email from another friend saying the procedure for leaving comments was too cumbersome so I went in and changed the settings. So for those of you interested in leaving comments it will be much more simplified. But don't think that you have to. I certainly do like hearing from all my friends and family.

Susan has been doing a great job updating this with my medical situation (which luckily will continue to remain unchanged until my treatments stop.

I've been thinking about adding a post that talks about some of the other things I've been doing to keep myself together during all this.

a third of the way through

Gary is having some cumulative effects from the chemo & radiation and including, of course, being tired. He is switching the chemo meds to evening ( 2 hours after eating) and hope that will help sleeping at night and ease some of the sleepies during the day. The radiation adds to it but there is nothing wrong with an hour or two nap.
Gary also mentioned the Dr said there is some improvement in his vision. gary's reply " I don't see it" Ha ha!

Susan

Scans

Although they gave me a disk with all of the pre and post surgery scans, the program that I assume allows in depth viewing and comparison won't install on my computers. So I am limited to selecting specific images from the two series. I wanted to, at least, be able to compare images from the same coordinates. The top pictures are pre surgery. The bottom ones are post surgery

visitors

I want to thank everyone who has visited. Spending time with my friends has really be a source of strength and comfort. The medications and radiation is having a profound effect on my stamina. There are frequent times when I have to shut down and recharge. I certainly look forward to continued visits but understand that we will have to work them into what now appears to be a somewhat unpredictable arousal level.

Gary

Boat Models

Susan has posted some things about my building a wooden boat model during my free time. This has been an on/off hobby of mine for quite a long time. Like most boys of my generation I spent many a rainy afternoong building plastic models of jets and hanging them from the ceiling of my bedroom. I do remember the only boat I built was a submarine that Myra got as a present.

My first foray into wooden boat models was about 35 years ago. In betwee life changes, I dropped out of school planning to take one of those hippie backpacking trips acrosss Europe. Around the time I got lai off of the job that was going to pay for the trip I had an accident with my parent's shower door and the glass popped out severing the tendon by the big toe on my left foot. I was stuck at my parents house and I don't know where I was but came across the model. My recollection was that it was a preformed bulkhead that needed to be shaped and all of the fittings added. I am sure I recovered well before the boat was finished and I left it with my nephew Richard and remember it sitting in their living room in varying levels of completion over the years.


When Rhonda and I got married I decided to try one of the more complicated models. I picked the H.M.S Beagle in honor of Charles Darwin and spent many many years working on it. To be honest it still is only about 90-95% complete. It had a bit on an accident while we were getting our house ready to sell.




After my surgery I was contemplating things I could do to keep busy. Over the years I moved on from model boats to furniture but I was told to keep away from power tools. Myra and Susan suggested another boat.

So I'll be spending some quality time with the H.M.S Bounty during this recovery
period.

Gary

Chemo & Radiation Days 3,4 & 5

The treatments are settling into a routine; Gary is there at 8 AM and out by 8:20. The only side affect is being tired. The only loss of hair will be at the radiation site. The oncologist hopes to have Gary off steroids in a few weeks which may help the tiredness somewhat.
And there are no sessions over the weekend.

Susan

Chemo/Radiation Days 3 & 4

Day 3
Computer was down, so it took as long as before. Did too much after the session so went home tired, which is pretty much the way things are.

Day 4

Finally the short version of the treatment. Met with oncologist, who is up to date on the trials going on at MSKCC and the primary care MD for bloodwork and just to keep his eye on everything. Then tired.

Susan

Radiation/Chemo Day 2

The second day of radiation went a little bit faster but not as fast as Gary hoped. There was still some adjusting and fine tuning done but there's aren't any sessions over the weeknend, so he has a chance to rest and get ready for a full program next week. The chemo continues every day.
Gary has ordered a new model boat, the Bounty ( http://www.historicships.com/TALLSHIPS/Constructo/HMS%20Bounty%20con80817/HMS%20Bounty%20con80817.htm ) and will get started as soon as it arrives. Danielle has promised to help and Alex promised to help by not helping. What a team!

Susan

Chemo and Radiation - Day 1

The first day wasn't too bad, just exhausting. It started off with pills one hour before eating, eating, then pills to take after eating. Gary has set up a spread sheet to keep track of the meds: ones before or after eating, ones that are 2,3 or 4 times a day, ones to take as needed and ones to take at bedtime. Soon they'll be color coded too.
The intitial radiation session was longer then the future ones will be. Getting everything set up, x-rays and stufftook close to two hours. Todays session should be 15 minutes or so.
No reaction to the chemo, there are drugs to prevent nausea and after the radiation, he was tired.
Alex is home and Danielle is expected soon. That's something to cheer Gary & Rhonda both. Friends are more then welcome to visit.Just check with Rhonda before so there isn't an overload on any particular day and rememeber Gary tires easily.

Susan

12/13/07lLatest news

Gary & Rhonda were in New York on Weds, meeting with a neuro-oncologist team at MSKCC (Sloan Kettering). The news was as good as it could get. Because the surgery was so effective in removing the existing tumor and his cognitive skills are intact ( he scored 100 on the exam ), he has an excellant chance on beating the odds of this terrible cancer. Which doesn't mean it will never come back but that he has a greater chance of a longer delay in it's recurrence and a better chance of fighting it off when and if it does come back. And there are lots of new drugs on the horizon in various trial stages.
In the meantime, Gary will be starting his chemo/radiation program today. The radiation course runs five days a week for six weeks and the chemo not as long and thank goodness for good medical/drug coverage. The cost of these pills is astronomical.
It is both physicaly and mentally exhausting for both Gary and Rhonda to answer all your questions and repeat them to all of you. They know and appreciate your concern for them. I will try and keep this as up to date as I can for them and respond to any questions you may have as well.

Susan Klatsky

Why I am glad I studied cogntiive neuroscience

Given Visual processing has been a long term interest of mine,this experience has been academically fascinating. I did have some very interesting discussions about visual pathways with my neurosurgery team. I wish I was on the other side of the scalpel. one regeret was that they didn't turn on d with the record function associated with the surgical microcope. I've been having a bit of trouble navigating the pre and postoperation scans

Thanksgiving

I had a bit of a minor hiccup today. I seem to be experiencing some focal simple seizures that result in odd sensory feelings in my left leg and arm.Spent a good part of the morning making sure it wasn't hemorrhaging. CT scan showed just some residual blood from the operation. The increased the anti seizure medication and that should fix the problem. In anothercase of one degreee of separation .The ER Dr is best friends with one of our SUNY Oswego friends


I certainly am feeling very thankfulthis year.

some images

I wish I had access to the same images as the surgeon. I can't even find the comparable pre and postscans

This one Is a bit clearer

some images

11/21/ update

I wanted to thank everyone for your support and encouragement
I got home late yesterday afternoon. Being home is probably the best treatment I could get anywhere.

The pre discharge assessment indicated there was some recovery in the slight visual neglect I was having in the lower left quadrant Dr believes that is a function of the surgery, removing the
tumor inflamed the visual pathways front he lateral geniculate nucleus the right thalamus that passes through the right temporal cortex to the the right visual cortex.. I talked to him about more detailed testing but his thought was that once the swelling from the surgery goes down, the impairment will improve. and that will be the best diagnostic tool. next week I meet with the radiological oncology group from Upstate hospital. I also have a contact at Memorial Sloan Kettering NYC for a second opinion of the therapy protocol. I'm having trouble accessing the post surgery scan but will get it posted later

Teaching cognitive neuroscience certainly made this a much easier experience. I had very great conversations with the surgeon about visual pathways. It was interesting that the nurses came to me with questions.

To all of you, have a great thanksgiving. I hope to be back in the dept sometime before the end of the semester.

I certainly would enjoy visitors. Just check with Rhonda. 652 0057 or 391 4387

Update

Gary was moved out of the ICU to the neuroscience step down room. The nurses told him that this is the last stop before he can leave the hospital. He was told by the neurosurgeon that he will be out of the hospital and able to come home on Tuesday. Despite experiencing some pain around the surgical site he is feeling almost back to normal. He was told that he will be starting radiation therapy two weeks after he is released from the hospital and that it will last four to six weeks. The nurses and doctors are all in awe by how quick he has recovered from the operation. They said most people who have this kind of operation are out of the hospital between 5-12 days and Gary will most likely be home in 4.

Post Surgery

The surgery was very successful. The surgeon was able to remove all the tumor and he is doing well recovering. There were no damages as a result of the surgery. He is experiencing a slight visual impairment, but it should disappear when the swelling reduces. He is in very good humor and keeps the nursing staff laughing all day. We hope he will be out of the ICU by either tomorrow or Monday, and he should be home for Thanksgiving!

Gary's condition

As most of you know, on Oct 23rd, Gary had a seizure and was hospitalized. Although none of the tests at the hospital indicated anything serious The MRI taken on 11/13 did show a mass in the
right temporal lobe

This mass appears to be a glioma. The doctors thought it best to have this foriegn body removed as soon as possible. Surgery is scheduled for Friday afternoon.

what's happened

On October 23rd I had a partial complex seizure. Partial because it was localized. Complex because it affectec my consciousness.

The subsequent EEG indicated some abnormal brain activity but nothing that indicated continuous seizures

Tuesday November 13 I went for an MRI. My doctors wanted me to have the mri done at SUNY Upstate hospital because it is the only place in Syracuse that has the higher resolution MRI

They immediately called my doctor saying the MRI revealed a mass. My doctor called the best neurosurgeon in Syracuse (he said one of the top 10 in the country). They made an appointment for me today.

The bottom line is that the mass is a tumor. At this point all he knows is that it is a glioma

I am scheduled for surgery Friday afternoon. We will try to use ths blog to post updaates