Thursday, January 21

Today is the day that my tumor's pathology comes back and some kind of medium to long-term treatment plan is established. Unfortunately, this "treatment" will likely involve radiation and/or chemotherapy. As you can probably imagine, I've already called the surgeon's office today (they said to stop calling and that they'd call me back when they're ready) and tried to pry some kind of information out of them. The tumor could be one of four "grades," Grade I-IV, and its treatment will depend largely on which grade it turns out to be. A Grade I tumor is the most benign (and usually the least aggressive too), while a Grade IV tumor is the most malignant (and obviously the most aggressive). Grade II and Grade III tumors lie on the spectrum between the two, but the tumor's grade is really only a part of my overall treatment plan.

Me, blogging.

The picture to the right (of my back) is a "Dilantin" rash. Yes, it is easily as itchy as it looks, though because they switched me the other day to Keppra in its place, it is already largely faded and gone-thank you Lord!

There are literally hundreds of different tumor types from which my tumor may be derived: The most common type of primary brain tumor (which is what I have, since mine did not metastasize from another area of my body) is called a glioma. Gliomas begin from glial cells, which generally are the supportive tissue of the brain. There are several types of gliomas, categorized by where they are found, and the type of cells that originated the tumor. For example, "Astrocytomas" are glial cell tumors

that are derived from connective tissue cells called astrocytes, and can be found pretty much anywhere in the brain of an otherwise healthy adult or child. "Oligodendrogliomas" also arise from the supporting cells of the brain. They are usually found in the cerebral hemispheres (the "meat" of the brain, like where mine was discovered) and can also be found pretty much anywhere. Seizures are a very normal symptom of these tumors, as well as headaches, weakness, or changes in behavior or sleepiness, etc. This type of tumor is more common in people in their 40s and 50s, but tend to have a better prognosis than most other gliomas, though they can become more malignant with time. Again, this is just a small sampling of what kind of primary brain tumors are out there, and I hope to have much more information this afternoon after my brain surgeon calls.

An update on my overall condition reveals a very positive trajectory. Since being discharged from the hospital on Monday (that's right, only the 4th day(!) since having my head hacked open(!)) my energy and general outlook have steadily improved. Yesterday I had a bunch of friends come to visit and we spent several hours just hanging out in the apartment shooting the breeze and talking about what this semester is offering everyone. And of course, this is on top of a wonderful day spent in downtown Philly, walking around Macy's (where you can catch two daily concerts (12 and 5) from the world's largest operational pipe organ-the largest (non-operational) being found in the Atlantic City Convention Center), the Wannamaker Building generally, and of course down to our new favorite cafe-Rachael's Nosheri on 19th and Sansom St. Great soup and bagel's at this place-try the pastrami sandwich if you really want a treat. We did and I'm sure we will again, and next time I'll be sure to get some Rachael's pics up on this blog to better illustrate Philly's downtown-ness.

This somewhat creepy historic building is a sliver of the past, named "Bellevue Health Club," and just kind of...there.