Hi Lillian :)
The short version is: I had a siezure, the doctors investigated
and found a tumor a little larger than a golf ball in the front
right quarter of my brain. They operated and removed the
tumor completely. They found it was a fast growing tumor
of the type "Oligodendroglioma" and prescribed a follow-up
of 18 weeks of chemotherapy and 6 weeks of radiation.
The unabridged version is:
It all started one cold December day back in 1959. I was
as wrinkled as a prune and could I holler!!! My parents
were new to this, and thought I would improve with time,
so they kept me. In retrospect, it was a decision they would
regret over and over.
One sunny day, I was walking to the dinner table when my wife
noticed I was looking off into the corner of the room in a rather
different way. She thought I was about to play a joke on her
or something, when I toppled over into a genuine nose dive on
the hardwood floor and proceeded to have my first (and hopefully
last) grand mal siezure. We had no warnings that I was having
difficulties.
In hindsight, I did have some petite siezures at work prior to this,
but they were "insignificant" and I kind of ignored them. They
were just starting to bother me to the point that I was discussing
them with my peers. They had the effect of causing me to have
an "out-of-body" experience which would cause me to lose my
place momentarily while speaking. They were sometimes
embarrassing, but I always forgot about them.
With me now thrashing and foaming on the floor, my wife thought
I had a stroke, and called the ambulance. They did a cat scan at
the hospital, and there discovered the tumor. They then transferred
me to a larger hospital with brain surgeons and "stuff." The MRI
there confirmed that I had a tumor, and they immediately operated
to remove it. It was a little larger than a golf ball, and in the front
right quarter of my brain.
They proceeded to observe the removed tumor, and decided that
it was a rare model, "oligodendroglioma." They were participating
in some trials with a cancer board in Detroit, MI and at the
University of Minnesota, and because the clinical trial criteria were
exacting, they all took turns poking at my tumor to see what it was.
They determined that it was growing rather fast for an Oligodendroglioma,
(the growth indice was 14%, and the Doctor explained that anything
higher than 5% is considered to be high) so then they decided to
prescribe a rather aggressive treatment. (My understanding has
it that with a slow growing brain tumor that has been successfully
removed, sometimes no treatment at all is prescribed.)
So I was prescribed to 18 weeks of chemotherapy. These are
comprised of three 6 week cycles. Each cycle began with a
big dose of CCNU, which I am supposed to absorb for a week.
Then it is followed by an injection of Vincristine and three weeks
of Procarbazine (orally.) Then I am given a two-week rest period
which is intended to allow the blood counts to recover. My blood
counts remained very stable throughout the first two cycles. I
currently am on my last cycle.
Although the Doctors are "very pleased" with my progress to date,
they are recommending that I follow up with 6 weeks of radiation
when I am done with the chemotherapy.
Your friend,
Ross Ylitalo
raylital@mtu.edu
>Would you please tell me how they discovered your tumor, the size and
>location and what therapy you had. Thanks alot, Lillian
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