Watch and Sweat(wait) #19 - All clear and now tumour-free for over eight years! Phew

The latest MRI checkup today came up clear again. As shown below, that makes it over eight years Tumour-free, so I'm traveling pretty well.

OLIGO SCORE CARD
Birthday:	7/8/54
Event	Date		Tumour-free years
First diagnosed after craniotomy #1	1/11/93		39
First recurrance and Craniotomy #2	1/11/06		13
MRI showing signs of progression	1-Jan-09		2.2
Second Recurrance and Craniotomy #3	29-May-09		2.2
Completed Radiation Therapy	28-Aug-09		0.2
Started Chemotherapy with Temozolomide	12-Apr-10		0.8
Completed 12 mth chemotherapy	1-Apr-11		1.8
Watch and Sweat(wait) #1	22-Aug-12		3.2
Watch and Sweat(wait) #2	24-Oct-12		3.3
Watch and Sweat(wait) #3	29-Jan-13		3.7
Watch and Sweat(wait) #4	27-May-13		3.9
Watch and Sweat(wait) #5	3-Sep-13		4.3
Watch and Sweat(wait) #6	3-Dec-13		4.5
Watch and Sweat(wait) #7	4-Mar-14		4.8
Watch and Sweat(wait) #8	3-Jun-14		5.0
Watch and Sweat(wait) #9	2-Sep-14		5.3
Watch and Sweat(wait) #10	9-Dec-14		5.5
Watch and Sweat(wait) #11	20-Apr-15		5.8
Watch and Sweat(wait) #12	20-Jul-15		6.1
Watch and Sweat(wait) #13	29-Oct-15		6.4
Watch and Sweat(wait) #14	21-Jan-16		6.6
Watch and Sweat(wait) #15	12-May-16		6.9
Watch and Sweat(wait) #16	5-Sep-16		7.3
Watch and Sweat(wait) #17	10-Jan-17		7.6
Watch and Sweat(wait) #18	9-May-17		7.9
Watch and Sweat(wait) #19	5-Sep-17		8.3

Return to Flinders Peak

All photos by Kev McCloskey - click on photos to enlarge

Making our way up Flinders Peak

Kev in foreground and me behind

An interesting little section that required some scrambling skills

Reaching the Summit

I recently returned to Flinders Peak for a day-walk in the bush with good mate Kev McCloskey and a couple of other friends of Kev. This was the first walk I did after my last operation in 2009 and featured in an older post on this blog in 2009 titled Flinders Peak - First mountain since surgery…

I must say that I felt pretty sluggish up and down the steep sections and getting over the rocks. Whether that’s due to old age, lack of fitness, the extra 8Kg I’m carrying on my belly, or all of the above I’m not sure. It’s probably the latter. Anyway, it was still great to get outdoors and push myself a bit harder than normal with good company.

Watch and Sweat(Wait) #18 Still clear

Today's four-monthly checkup shows everything is still fine upstairs. Phew!

That makes it 7.9 years tumour-free, but I'm trying not to get too blasé about these checkups because past experience tells me it can pop up again regardless of how long I have been tumour-free.

OLIGO SCORE CARD
Event	Date		Tumour-free years
First diagnosed after craniotomy #1	1/11/93		39
First recurrance and Craniotomy #2	1/11/06		13
MRI showing signs of progression	1-Jan-09		2.2
Second Recurrance and Craniotomy #3	29-May-09		2.2
Completed Radiation Therapy	28-Aug-09		0.2
Started Chemotherapy with Temozolomide	12-Apr-10		0.8
Completed 12 mth chemotherapy	1-Apr-11		1.8
Watch and Sweat(wait) #1	22-Aug-12		3.2
Watch and Sweat(wait) #2	24-Oct-12		3.3
Watch and Sweat(wait) #3	29-Jan-13		3.7
Watch and Sweat(wait) #4	27-May-13		3.9
Watch and Sweat(wait) #5	3-Sep-13		4.3
Watch and Sweat(wait) #6	3-Dec-13		4.5
Watch and Sweat(wait) #7	4-Mar-14		4.8
Watch and Sweat(wait) #8	3-Jun-14		5.0
Watch and Sweat(wait) #9	2-Sep-14		5.3
Watch and Sweat(wait) #10	9-Dec-14		5.5
Watch and Sweat(wait) #11	20-Apr-15		5.8
Watch and Sweat(wait) #12	20-Jul-15		6.1
Watch and Sweat(wait) #13	29-Oct-15		6.4
Watch and Sweat(wait) #14	21-Jan-16		6.6
Watch and Sweat(wait) #15	12-May-16		6.9
Watch and Sweat(wait) #16	5-Sep-16		7.3
Watch and Sweat(wait) #17	10-Jan-17		7.6
Watch and Sweat(wait) #18	9-May-17		7.9

Watch and Sweat(Wait) # 17 - another "All Clear"

Another Four-Month checkup came up clear today. I am finally feeling that with the Radiation and Chemo therapies after the surgery this time, we have got this thing under control. If I can get another 13 years tumour-free as I did after the initial operation, I'll be happy with that!

OLIGO SCORE CARD
Event	Date		Tumour-free years
First diagnosed after craniotomy #1	1/11/93		39
First recurrance and Craniotomy #2	1/11/06		13
MRI showing signs of progression	1-Jan-09		2.2
Second Recurrance and Craniotomy #3	29-May-09		2.2
Completed Radiation Therapy	28-Aug-09		0.2
Started Chemotherapy with Temozolomide	12-Apr-10		0.8
Completed 12 mth chemotherapy	1-Apr-11		1.8
Watch and Sweat(wait) #1	22-Aug-12		3.2
Watch and Sweat(wait) #2	24-Oct-12		3.3
Watch and Sweat(wait) #3	29-Jan-13		3.7
Watch and Sweat(wait) #4	27-May-13		3.9
Watch and Sweat(wait) #5	3-Sep-13		4.3
Watch and Sweat(wait) #6	3-Dec-13		4.5
Watch and Sweat(wait) #7	4-Mar-14		4.8
Watch and Sweat(wait) #8	3-Jun-14		5.0
Watch and Sweat(wait) #9	2-Sep-14		5.3
Watch and Sweat(wait) #10	9-Dec-14		5.5
Watch and Sweat(wait) #11	20-Apr-15		5.8
Watch and Sweat(wait) #12	20-Jul-15		6.1
Watch and Sweat(wait) #13	29-Oct-15		6.4
Watch and Sweat(wait) #14	21-Jan-16		6.6
Watch and Sweat(wait) #15	12-May-16		6.9
Watch and Sweat(wait) #16	5-Sep-16		7.3
Watch and Sweat(wait) #17	10-Jan-17		7.6

Watch and Sweat(Wait) #16 - Still All Clear!

Another four-monthly MRI scan today showed no signs of recurrence. So I can relax for the rest of the year. Next checkup is in January 2017.

OLIGO SCORE CARD Event Date Tumour-free years First diagnosed after craniotomy #1 1/11/93 39 First recurrance and Craniotomy #2 1/11/06 13 MRI showing signs of progression 1-Jan-09 2.2 Second Recurrance and Craniotomy #3 29-May-09 2.2 Completed Radiation Therapy 28-Aug-09 0.2 Started Chemotherapy with Temozolomide 12-Apr-10 0.8 Completed 12 mth chemotherapy 1-Apr-11 1.8 Watch and Sweat(wait) #1 22-Aug-12 3.2 Watch and Sweat(wait) #2 24-Oct-12 3.3 Watch and Sweat(wait) #3 29-Jan-13 3.7 Watch and Sweat(wait) #4 27-May-13 3.9 Watch and Sweat(wait) #5 3-Sep-13 4.3 Watch and Sweat(wait) #6 3-Dec-13 4.5 Watch and Sweat(wait) #7 4-Mar-14 4.8 Watch and Sweat(wait) #8 3-Jun-14 5.0 Watch and Sweat(wait) #9 2-Sep-14 5.3 Watch and Sweat(wait) #10 9-Dec-14 5.5 Watch and Sweat(wait) #11 20-Apr-15 5.8 Watch and Sweat(wait) #12 20-Jul-15 6.1 Watch and Sweat(wait) #13 29-Oct-15 6.4 Watch and Sweat(wait) #14 21-Jan-16 6.6 Watch and Sweat(wait) #15 12-May-16 6.9 Watch and Sweat(wait) #16 5-Sep-16 7.3

Facial problems fade away, back to watch and sweat(wait)

The numbness on the left side of my face, reported on May 9, thankfully faded away a couple of weeks ago and no doctors or dentists could offer me an explanation as to what went wrong. I don’t really care any more, I’m just happy that I don’t have to live with it permanently.

However, I did return to the hospital today to have a followup MRI scan of the brain and consultation with my neurosurgeon, Dr. David Walker. The artefact on the image in the area of the brain stem reported in my last post is still there but there is no change in it and I have no symptoms so Dr Walker is satisfied that it is not a concern. When he has discussed it previously with the radiologist they both agreed that it is inconsistent with the type of tumour I have so he believes that we should not worry about it unless I develop any symptoms (in which case I should not hesitate to contact him immediately). We have made an appointment for another regular review in three months time.

And the MRI reveals…..NOT MUCH

Today I had an MRI scan of the brain which was originally scheduled for my regular monitoring to make sure there is no recurrence of my benign Brain tumour.

This opportunity was also being used to look for any neurological abnormalities which might explain why the left side of my face has numbed up in the last couple of weeks. (see my previous post for details)

When my neurosurgeon, Dr David Walker examined the images he found:

a) no sign of recurrence in the area of the previous surgery. Yippee - That means that I have now been tumour-free for seven years!!!

b) no sign of anything in the area of the Trigeminal nerve (the nerve responsible for sensation in the face) which might explain my mouth and face numbness.

c) There was a faint artefact on the image in an “inoperable area of the brain stem” which Dr Walker noticed but he will have to consult with the radiologist to decide if it is significant or not.

Regardless of the outcome of point c, he has scheduled a followup MRI and consultation with him in six weeks time.