How am I doing after seizure? Ok.

This is just a small post to ease people's mind after my seizure episode on Monday.  Thanks for all the support and comments.

I feel fine, just as I did on Sunday before Monday's episode. My brain exploded, but recovered within 30-45 minutes and hasn't changed since. So other than that one event, the liver and brain tumors haven't made their presence known to me. Only to scans. Only pain is currently all surgical (from July) or diet related.

Some short points of interest:

• I had an MRI done Tue (day after seizure) that I'll find out the results of next Tue (after Easter)
• Regularly scheduled chemo on Tue was cancelled. Apparently chemo doesn't reach to the brain. The brain is a sort of "sanctuary" from chemo somehow.
• I've been put in charge of a few new doctors that will concentrate on neurological treatments: options include, but may not be limited too, or may not specifically include the following:
1. Full brain scan radiation, weak radiation everywhere. Would work similar to how chemotherapy works to dissuade new tumor growth in unknown areas.
2. Radiation surgery, surgical radiation, cyber knife, whatever you want to call it, another option is to have a multiple radiation beam (multiple weak beams) that intersect at a 3D point to become concentrated and strong. Targeting the exact location of the tumor to kill it in place. It would inactivate it and it would reside in my brain for the rest of my life, but would no longer be malignant/growing.
3. Last resort. (1) and (2) require some time off of Chemotherapy before and after the radiation treatment, so there is risk of the liver cancer getting out of control (for future possible cyber knife like treatment), but with option (3) this is much greater. Option 3 is to open up my head and surgically remove the tumor. This would cause more damage to brain tissue, and have a much longer recovery period (sans chemo). So they probably won't do this.

For those who are interested, here's the meds I'm currently on... old and new drugs:

• New: Lyrica  (aka Pregabalin) 75 mg, one tablet twice a day (8am, 8pm). This is an anti-seizure drug, with a couple of side-effects of increased appetite and some pain relief (both good for me).
• New (sort of, had it before, but not this regularly or this dosage): Dexamethasone 4 mg, 1 tablet 4 times a day (roughly 7am, 1pm, 7pm, 12 midnight). Dexamethasone is used as a nausea inhibiting steroid for chemotherapy, but for this it will be used as a anti-swelling of my blood vessels in my brain. Since tumors in the brain tend to swell blood vessels as they get greedy for their growth causing leaking in the brain and swelling.
• Old: For not having an esophageal stomach valve, and because some meds increase acid production... Ranitidine 15 mg/ml, take 10 ml once or twice daily. (I take it before bed only, but they say with the increase in lyrica and dexamethasone, I may wish to do it twice a day now.)
• Old: Hyrdomorphone 1mg/ml, take 1 to 2 mls every 4 to 6 hrs or as needed. I currently take it once every 1 to 3 days as needed. I don't take it that often and only 2 ml in one go. I have a decent pain tolerance, so I take it when it interferes or when someone nags me to take it. (Or when I get a migraine from my surgical scar from eating too much.)

 That's about it.

 Nothing concrete that they are going to do at this time. I'm on anti-seizure / swelling meds and I'm taking a small break from chemo before they begin radiation on my head.

I'll blog again once I know more.
Shane