Background and overview

I learnt more about the health system from being an inpatient than I had in 20 years of working as a neuropsychologist. I was unexpectedly diagnosed with two brain tumours on 4/9/13. They turned out to be grade IV Gliomas (glioblastoma multiforme (GBM)). After removal of the right parietal and left occipital tumours, I received the standard treatment under the Stupp protocol (combined Temozolamide (TMZ) and conformal radiotherapy 5 days/week for 6 weeks), but the TMZ had to be ceased after 5 weeks because I had started to develop pancytopenia, where more than one of my blood counts had begun to drop. By Christmas 2013, I had become anaemic and needed a couple of blood transfusions. I ended up in hospital for 3 weeks of the 2014 new year after experiencing my first seizure (suggestive of a right temporal lobe focus) on 31/12/13). They were so worried about my bone marrow, they did a biopsy. Luckily, it was all clear of any nasty disorders. It had just been suppressed by the TMZ My blood counts slowly returned to normal with daily injections of GCSF, which stimulate bone marrow function, for several months. For 17 months I was doing better each day, without any physical impairments or major cognitive problems A third brain tumour was found in the right temporal lobe on 2/1/15, and removed 6/1/15, only to reappear on 17/2/15 after I started to feel vague symptoms at the end of 2014. I had my 4th round of brain surgery on 1/3/15, followed by stereotaxic radio surgery of a residual, inoperable, tumour, on 17/4/15. I've been feeling like my old self again since that highly precise form of radiotherapy, and it feels fabulous.

My way of coping.
I choose to live in hope that everything will work out for the best. I've learnt that even though things are sometimes unpleasant, life and love go on forever. I put my faith in the life force that created and unites us all in love, across all time, space, and dimensions. I refuse to succumb to fear, which is an invention of our imaginations. There are an infinite number of things to fear, both in this world an in our imaginations, and most of them never eventuate. I choose not to dwell on them, and to focus instead on counting my many blessings, current and past, and to have faith and hope that if I look after the present moment, the future will look after itself.

If you're reading, and haven't been in touch, please don't be shy, send me a brief private message using the contact form on the right. It's nice to know who's out there. Blogging can leave me feeling a little isolated at times (I used to have recurrent dreams of being out on a limb over a canyon, or of starting to strip off in a crowded waiting room). Your emails are appreciated, although I can't necessarily answer all of them.


Tuesday, 21 April 2015

Commemorating, not celebrating, ANZAC day and Gallipoli

http://www.solidarity.net.au/highlights/nothing-to-celebrate-in-anzac-the-bloody-history-of-the-british-empire/

 This is a fascinating, sobering, and tragic article, drawing together many facts that I've encountered over the years. Many people will probably be offended or confronted by it, but it's a must read, now that we're all adults. I don't remember ever being taught at school why we went to Gallipoli, other than that the British asked us to go.

Did you know that the British cut off the thumbs of the master weavers in India to cripple their weaving industry, which was second to none, in order to bolster the british weaving industry? Lest we forget the young (and older) men of Australia and New Zealand, and other countries, including Turkey,  who fought and perished at Gallipoli in a futile conflict. 

 I met a pleasant man in a cafe yesterday, and he said he was from Turkey when I asked about his accent. I also met a chirpy pathology nurse who took my blood at the GP's rooms. I told them both about the article, and they gave their own similar perspectives on the awful futility of the Gallipoli campaign. As a mother of two young boys, I can't imagine the trauma experienced by the mothers of all the people who have been lost in any conflict throughout history. My boys tell me that they'd get their boat licenses if they joined the Navy, but I tell them that if there's ever any conflict, the Army, Navy, and Air Force would expect their former reservists to join up, partly to pay back the training and experience they'd received. The boys are so naive. I'm distressed by the thought of them ever being involved in armed conflict, where they may need to harm others to defend themselves or other people, let alone attack other people as part of a military operation.

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