More New Updates for Brain Tumor Awareness Month

Exciting things continue to occur as Go Gray for May reaches its middle. New research and breakthroughs are being posted and it is reaching out to the most violent and aggressive forms of tumor, in ways that are minimally invasive. I am so excited for those who suffer from these even more aggressive forms of tumor and cancer.

Newly released information shares a way to treat glioblastoma and it is working. Increased clinical trials are the next step. Medscape: Glioblastoma and Virus Vaccines

Support groups also offer hope as this is the biggest indicator of long term quality of life for survivors.

Brain Trust Support

Brain Cancer Support

God bless you! You've got this.

WHO?!?

The World Health Organization just published a paper that will greatly impact the treatment of brain tumors and other central nervous system tumors. This is huge. The classification systems used currently affects how treatment is done and what options are open to patients. Despite differences in cellular construction of the tumor, many tumors may have been previously classified the same. With all the new research and studies being done I am so excited at this change. This opens the door to more focused treatments and options.

Amazing. Way to go WHO!

Central Nervous System Classifications

Pioneering Awake Brain Surgery

I recently was privileged to read an article penned by a writer given the opportunity to be at the forefront of brain research, awake brain surgery. Amazing things are being done and this article was both morbid and personal for me, I have color pictures taken during my surgery. They are amazing. I have actually seen images of my brain. Its a little surreal when you consider that the very thing interpreting the visual image, is the thing that the picture is taken of.

Prior to the surgery there is a meeting and discussion of why awake surgery is important.

"It was Marsh who kept the conversation going during the dinner. He explained the awake craniotomy procedure, saying that for a neurosurgeon, it is a constant temptation to try to remove the entire tumor, but if you go too far, if you remove too much, the consequences can be severe. It may lead to full or partial paralysis of one side of the body or other functional impairments or personality changes. When the patient is awake, this allows the surgeon first of all to determine where the dividing line lies, and second, to observe the consequences of the procedure directly and immediately, and stop before any serious damage is done."

After this the author is given time to think about what is going to happen before appearing at the hospital the next day.

"To my horror, the operation was in progress.

The silence was total. The single focus of attention was a head clamped in a vise in the middle of the room. The upper part of the skull had been removed, and the exposed edge covered in layer after layer of gauze, completely saturated with blood, forming a funnel down into the interior of the cranium. The brain was gently pulsating within. It resembled a small animal in a grotto. Or the meat of an open mussel. Two doctors were bending over the head, each of them moving long, narrow instruments back and forth inside the opening. One nurse was assisting them, another was standing a few yards away, watching. A whispery slurping sound issued from one of the instruments, like the sound produced by the tool a dentist uses to suck away saliva from a patient’s mouth. Next to us was a monitor showing an enlarged image of the brain. In the middle, a pit had been scooped out. In the center of the pit was a white substance, shaped like a cube. The white cube, which appeared to be made of firmer stuff, was rubbery and looked like octopus flesh. I realized that it must be the tumor."

Terrible Beauty of Brain Surgery

What an amazing article. I am in awe of the brain and its functions. I am grateful to have the providers and caretakers that I do. God bless and keep you.

Medical Marijuana

I was asked by one of my team a few weeks ago to look into the applications of medical marijuana, specifically the hemp seed (which has no THC) on tumor reduction and brain function. I have spoken to two other members of my team; both have encouraged a discussion with my neurologist. That's three of five.

This threw me for a complete loop as I tried to wrap my head around it before even trying to do any research, this is very slow for me.  You want me to ask my neurologist about what?

After weeks of digging through online files and trying to find my way past all the pothead culture, I have found a few articles that may help. In addition there is some exciting research into synthesized medications that may be able to address inoperable meningioma. (I will post more as I learn more.) Here are the (very) few articles I was able to find that have anything intelligent and reputable to say.

This article is on cancer but many of the same principles of treatment apply to brain tumor treatment. http://abcnews.go.com/Health/toddler-cancer-takes-cannabis-oil/story?id=15981324

Huffpost followed up on a documented story of recovery. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/01/cannabis-for-infants-brai_n_2224898.html

This is the article written prior to the Huffpost article on the same story. http://jeffreydachmd.com/2014/04/cannabis-oil-brain-tumor-remission-jeffrey-dach-md/

As you can see there is not much to find that is not from sites that promote pot culture; what there is to find is both intriguing and challenging. If there is a natural solution that makes use of the bodies own T-cells to combat inoperable tumors, why are we waiting to begin trials? For many with inoperable tumors there is nothing to lose, but everyday they lose a little more of themselves until the brain can no longer function. The medical field would be so excited if a synthetically produced drug was able to achieve similar results. This is both hard and frustrating to navigate as a brain tumor survivor.

One day at a time, I tell myself. There is hope. That is the future and I am here to live in the present. I can do this. God bless.