I am thrilled to share that after nearly 27 months from when I discovered my glioma my treatment is over! Other than the periodical MRIs to monitor recurrence, which I hope and pray never happens, I am back to life without glioma.
An experience like this changes your life and of your loved ones forever, but believe it or not it can be for the better. You will grow spiritually and will appreciate yours and your brothers' and sisters' lives at a higher level.
I was incredibly fortunate and blessed for my treatment, it was a resounding success. Starting with the surgery where I had all of the grade 3 tumor resected without any neurological impairment, followed by 18 months of Temodar chemo taken with nausendron for nausea. The chemo had absolutely no impact on my quality of life - no nausea or any other bad feeling. I also had Keppra, an anti-seizure medication that had kept seizures at bay. I was feeling so well during chemo that I was able to run a short triathlon during cycle 14 and I swear that during chemo weeks my endurance was up.
This will be my last post in this blog, I want to leave this for anyone that has been diagnosed and is assimilating the news and thinking through all the things that can happen following diagnose. 25 months after being diagnosed, 22 months after surgery and one week after my last chemo cycle I want to share what has worked for me through this journey:
- Clear your mind of bad thoughts - understand that this is not the end but the beginning of a new journey to a mysterious land. Life is unpredictable and this is just a reminder of that, so don't feel that all of a sudden you are mortal because you have always been;
- Focus on support - family, friends, healthcare professionals and fellow glioma patients provided incredible support to me, if it weren't for them and their prayers I would not have been able to stay positive and happy. I will never be able to thank them enough, I am just thrilled to be here to share my story, we can live with glioma;
- Stay focused on life - do as many things as you can to be as close to your pre-glioma life as possible. In my case working-out was my way to feel normal. Running, biking and swimming were key for me, but overcoming my fear of swimming was the best moment, it felt like I left my seizure in the water;
- Exercise during chemo (if you can) - there is growing evidence that exercising helps chemo, I will keep writing on my "We Can Think With Glioma" compiling evidence of potential causes and cures for this malady;
- Exercise your brain - I have never read so many books in my life, from Siddhartha Mukherjee's "The Emperor of All Maladies - a Biography of Cancer" to 14 Volume Arnold Toynbee's "A Study of History". My logic is that nothing like exercising the brain to keep it strong;
- Sleep well - I religiously sleep 8 hours a day for the first year and went to bed as soon as I felt tired. I even left my sister-in-law's wedding (she got married right after my surgery) to sleep as soon as I felt tired and to keep my "8 hours of sleep every night" streak intact. My logic is if the brain recovers at sleep I decided to do it well.
- Eat well - I have always read in sports' magazines that eating a lot of foods with different colors is the easiest way to eat nutritiously. Color can be an indicator of nutritional variation in the food. I used to joke that I only ate things that move, but now I incorporated vegetables and fruits to my diet and I actually feel better regardless of the glioma;
- Thank God for every day you get - my late night prayers of appreciation for everything God has done for me, from the family and friends I have to the doctors and people I met through my glioma, are a reminder that when we decide to help each other life becomes more plentiful and we get closer to Heaven. Building Heaven on Earth is the best way to earn a place in Heaven.
God bless you, stay strong and try to stay calm. At times emotions take over rationality and fear kicks in, this is perfectly normal, but don't let it happen for too long. Every person has a different way of coping with glioma, find what works for you and keep it out of your mind. This is a mind vs. brain game, as long as you can control your mind you will be able to enjoy every day of your life, and I hope you have a lot of life left. I personally would not mind crossing the 100 year-old mark, but this is not up to me, so I live life one day at a time. Focus on the present because yesterday is the past, tomorrow is the future and today if a gift, that is why it is called the present.
