Treatment

I was pretty amazed at how quickly I healed from surgery - so was everyone else. We got together with a lot of family over the holidays and everyone was so surprised at how normal I looked. I was feeling a little "different" than normal. Everything around me was so different. I could see so much better and everything looked so much brighter and clearer. My hearing was intensified - I felt a little like I had super powers. I'm not sure if this was from having surgery or getting used to not having the tumour anymore. I did have major issues with my depth perception. I kept banging my head on walls and doors for some reason. I was walking around with a goose egg on my forhead for weeks just like a baby learning to walk. Jeff found this quite amusing! My sisters and I had been going to our local gym and working out for months so within a couple of weeks I decided it was time to get back into it. I could only walk while they ran beside me but it was so nice to get out of the house and get some exercise. Another couple of weeks and I would be running beside them. I really cherished this time with them and was so happy that I was well enough to do it.

I went in to see the Oncologist at the end of January to get all of my results back. I was so nervous to hear what he had to say. During every test that I had, I was trying to read the technologist to see if I could feel some vibes from them. Was it normal? Was something there? It didn't work! I couldn't tell at all what they were seeing. They did call me back in after my PET scan for an MRI of my liver which was very worrisome. But I stayed positive and really believed that it would come back as nothing. So when I went in to see the Oncologist, he let me know that the only thing abnormal that they could find was a little spot on my lung. Everything else was clear!!! What a relief! The spot on my lung he wasn't sure whether it's cancer or not so I will have another scan in three months to see if it has changed in size. It was sort of bitter sweet hearing this news. At least there wasn't any other large tumour anywhere like they initially thought! This proves that the brain tumour came from the skin lesion I had years ago. This means that I have Stage IV metastatic melanoma NED. (No Evidence of Disease) Therefore, there is treatment for me.

We discussed treatment using Interferon and he explained what this would involve. I learned that this treatment was very contraversial and so were it's results. I had a lot to think about in the next few weeks and I had to get ready for Gamma Knife Surgery the following day....