Hello from the other side

Wow. Where have the months gone? I've been so busy since my last blog post, that the thought of writing hasn't even been able to come across my mind. Once again I received a tumor free MRI report and my oncologist is in agreement that in September of this year I will be ok to move to 6 month MRIs instead of every 3 months. This is great news because I'm becoming weary of the process and this last MRI, I had a reaction to the contrast dye that I hadn't had before. The reaction was so unusual that it worried me into thinking there may be growth somewhere contributing to it. Fortunately, that proved incorrect and once again I am set until July when I go back in for my (hopefully) last 3 month MRI. September 2016 will mark 2 years since my diagnosis. I have been doing some heavy research into recurrence rates, etc. and I have found that it is common for 97% of treated chemotherapy patients to encounter regrowth or secondary cancers within 5 years (68% for Brain Cancer). This particular statistic was shocking and got me looking into some more information.

I finally sucked it up enough to watch the docu-series "The Truth about Cancer". WOW. I've missed out on boat loads of valuable information that I had no idea about. Some of it was the nutrition aspect and how it played into the bodies responses and weakening of the immune system. I also learned that there is a direct correlation between cell phone use and brain tumors. I also learned that there are devices out there that essentially "neutralize" the radiation emitted from every day technological devices. They are called EMRTs and I have purchased one to go on my cell phone. I was later surprised to learn that Jeramy's Aunt and Uncle are very familiar with this and have them on all their devices. I learned that the reason tumor's shrink with chemotherapy treatment is because the chemo kills the surrounding daughter cells, but has virtually no effect on the mother stem cells that are the root cause of the cancer. As it stands, the tumor size will shrink, but ultimately, it will return at some point because the initial triggering stem cells are not changed with chemo. Most importantly, I learned that cancer is NOT a death sentence. It is curable. YES, you heard me right, and NO, that cure does not happen with chemo and radiation. Did you know Oncologists receive kick backs from Pharmaceutical companies for prescribing certain cancer treating medications? How would you feel about your oncologist prescribing you a certain type of chemo because he makes money off of it. Remember that Oncologist who went to prison for falsely diagnosing and treating all those people for Cancer? It likely happens more than you know. Conspiracy theories aside, do your own research (but be willing to look outside the box). Conventional medicine failed me, it made me sicker and caused permanent brain damage that now has to be treated with, you guessed it! More pharmaceutical drugs. The Industry is corrupt and people are suffering as a result. I am a living testament to that. The good news is, there is always hope.

Another positive note, my seizure activity has improved. I still experience mental fatigue and regular Aura's, but I have gone quite some time without having an actual seizure, and my physical functioning has been at its best since all this started. I go back to see my neurologist in June for a follow up and will decide our next course with the medication at that time. An unfortunate side effect of the current medication is weight gain. I have gone from being a steady 155lbs to now (last time I weighed) 162lbs. Even with diet modifications, the weight gain comes easily and the loss is next to impossible. We have made some modifications in my diet to hopefully make change, but it will be long term changes and will likely take many months to set in. The good news is I can now button my work pants again, as I have slimmed down some since those changes went into effect.

Easter Weekend, some very good friends of our finally got engaged and Jeramy and I were able to be a part of the process. It was so exciting and wonderful all at the same time! I look forward to watching these two continue to grow in their love for each other.

Work has been full force for the past month. I have begun working on increasing my productivity levels to full scale and man, I have felt the change there. It had been awhile since I was used to treating a regular case load and I was pretty worn out (and stressed out) the first few times I did. The muscle memory from the days when I regularly saw 15 patient's a day are returning, but it is always a day at a time process (some days better than others). I am happy to be back to this level at work as it has given me the ability to feel a sense of normalcy again.

Many of you are aware that we had put our house on the market in February. I am happy to report that we close on the sale next Thursday and then we can move forward with other plans after that time. This weekend we will be participating in the MDA walk to support Cousin Colton and then we will be packing all our belongings up and moving them into a storage unit near our current place of residence. I am so happy to have this step behind me. Everyone keeps asking what the plan is, but our plan is to take it one thing at a time and make sure all our ducks are in a row before we move to the next thing. Stress is paramount and I need very little of it. I will proceed in a reasonable manner that does not feel like we are "trigger happy". Positive changes lie ahead for us and I look forward to watching those unfold.