Tumor Update

Back in May I had Gamma Knife treatment to deal with the regrowth of my tumor. Everything went pretty smoothly and September I began to notice some symptoms start up again. By the time Thanksgiving rolled around piercing headaches were starting to become a regular occurance and the right side of my face, including half my tongue, cheek and eye area all began to feel like I had a dental freezing that never went away. Ever.
I contacted my Dr's just before Thanksgiving and they scheduled me in for an MRI on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving with the follow up on Wednesday. My Tumor had grown to almost double in size which was obviously quite concerning for everyone. I was prescribed Steroids to help reduce any swelling that may be occuring and was to have a second MRI in three weeks to see what next.
Well, the past three weeks have been very interesting to say the least. Along with the steroids came two other prescriptions to counterbalance the side effects. I really didn't want to be taking a bunch of different drugs so by tweaking my diet and supplements we were able to manage the side effects quite well. As an added bonus, because I am eating at regular times and have minimised sweet/sugar intake to a very minimal amount I don't have my mid afternoon energy crash, my moods are happier and way more balanced and my overall well being is much more calm and focused.
Yesterday Rob and I went to see the Drs for the follow up of my second MRI and it was good news!!!
This MRI was done with contrast dye and they were able to get a more detailed image of what was going on. We were shown the images and could see that the tumor was dieing, as the cells die they begin to break apart which is causing the great amount of swelling. The steroids did help as all my symptoms had diminished and returned again one I was off them.
Next steps for me, I'm back on the steroids for the next 4 to 6 months to help with swelling and all the symptoms I have been dealing with. I am booked for another MRI in 4 months to check on how thing are going and then hopefully it will show some exciting results!
Until then, I'm going to figure out what to do with my drug induced insomnia. Maybe start some midnight sewing.