Today is not July 5th - but I wrote this yesterday so I will post it today. It is July 5th - I have to think about it, but I know because it is our 12th year wedding anniversary. It is surreal. 12 years gone so quickly & yet spent so well. 12 years of love, fun, & good fortune. 12 years of good jobs, traveling, buying a house, & making it our home. 12 years of planning for & having children. Having our boys - the best decision we ever made. The greatest creations we could have ever been blessed with. Robert and I watch/listen (to) them with awe, spend time with them in amazement of their character, and love them with the deepest emotions possible.
Robert is still at Gilchrist Hospice Center. It is difficult to describe/explain how he is doing and I would have to explain hour by hour. We will treasure the joyous moments and work through the difficult moments. I celebrated today as any other really - Soaking in the precious moments and rationalizing the difficult circumstances that we find ourselves in - remembering the great memories and recognizing that we have little control over much of what happens. This is true for all of us. It is just that this lesson has been highlighted for us during our journey through this illness. May we all celebrate LIFE.
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My Condition - Glioblastoma Multiforme (or GBM)
I was diagnosed with Glioblastoma Multiforme (GBM). This condition has four different grades (I - IV). My tumor is a grade IV GBM. This is the most aggressive GBM tumor. I have included a little section of The Essential Guide to BRAIN TUMORS below to describe the condition more completely.
Astrocytoma
An astrocytoma develops from star-shaped glial cells (astrocytes) that support nerve cells. These tumors can be located anywhere in the brain, but the most common location is in the frontal lobe. Astrocytomas are the most common primary CNS tumor.
The physician, usually the neurosurgeon or neurooncologist, will discuss the type and location of an astrocytoma. The pathologist will assign it a grade. Astrocytomas are generally classified as low or high grade. Low-grade astrocytomas (grades I and II) are slow growing. High-grade astrocytomas (grades III and IV) grow more quickly. The main tumor type is listed for each grade. There are additional tumor types in each of these grades.
The WHO classification divides astrocytomas into four grades:
- Grade I Pilocytic Astrocytoma
- Grade II Low-Grade Astrocytoma
- Grade III Anaplastic Astrocytoma
- Grade IV Glioblastoma Multiforme (or GBM)
Characteristics
The characteristics of an astrocytoma vary depending on the tumor’s grade and location. Most people are functioning normally when diagnosed with a low-grade astrocytoma. Symptoms tend to be subtle and may take one to two years to diagnose. This is because the brain can often adapt to a slow-growing tumor for a period of time. Highgrade tumors may present with changes that are sudden and dramatic.
Symptoms
- Headaches
- Seizures or convulsions
- Difficulty thinking or speaking
- Behavioral or cognitive changes (related to thinking, reasoning, and memory)
- Weakness or paralysis in one part or one side of the body
- Loss of balance
- Vision changes
- Nausea or vomiting
2 comments:
We do love you. We are here for you. We do wish we could take you home and keep Robert well. We pray for miracles every moment. We wish away the torment and the fatigue and the pain and wish for hopes of healing and happiness your way. We are looking at you on your mountain climb up and seeing the falls and know this climb has been long and hard and we are just praying for you to find a moment of rest in this storm...find some sunshine and some sprays of silliness and support with laughter and passion...find that calm that will erase for but a moment this heart wrenching trauma of Robert's illness...we are sad with you. We are scared for you...we are uplifted by your fight and inspired by your stength and courage and mystified by your grace and compassion to still think of others. We do wish away your sadness and fears...we do want you to come home to a life of 12 years + that will have a future...we want you to know that your marriage is celebrated and your love love love will live live live! God bless you and know that we are here..beside, behind and infront...covered you in love. XOOX
Ang, CHuck, Gabbi and Maddi McLean
"open to the possiblities of hope and that good things grow in hard places."
Oh Tammy, please know you all are in my thoughts and prayers. Your journey has been so touching, inspiring, and yet heart wrenching. I'm at a loss for how to take away your pain or at least help to ease it, but just know that many, many prayers are being offered. Love ya!
Sue, Chase, & Bailey
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