The Element Song gone wrong or Gamma Knife sucks, so do Steroids.

Literally, those pesky little things suck my minerals right out of me. Mostly Potassium, Magnesium and what not. Sitting at Applebee's with two hands cramped up like crazy and Reed having to feeding me over the table was not a comfy experience. Not that it also hurt like hell, nooo. And sometimes the crampings got really bad, that's when the rest of my body joined happily in. Feet, back muscle, calves, face cramps, you name it. That happened already last year, after the whole brain radiation. It went so far back than that I had to be hospitalized because my heart was acting up.

Not going to happen the second time. We have a plan for this now. I eat all sorts of good stuff. My favorite: Coconutmilk with bananas and cacao mixed in a yummy shake. Dark Schoki is good for me? No need to tell me that twice! I love Mounds. Baked potatoes, spinach, avocado and lots of protein are also on the menu. I don't think we (Reed) cooked so much in his life before. For some reason he does not trust me with a knife in my hand or around hot stuff. Ok, I am a little jittery and dizzy off and on and drop stuff on the floor, but.. well, I guess that is his point.

So far I just had a couple of days where I felt awful, and I am nearly of the Roids. I had a blood test and so far no frantic call from my favorite nurse Lori. So all is good :)
That day at my doc:
Dr. Folbe: How is your memory? - Me: Good.
Dr. Folbe: How is your memory? - Me: Good.
Dr. Folbe: How is your memory? - Me: Jerk. 
Dr. Folbe: Chuckle.

And before that there was the Gamma Knife surgery itself. 15th of July. Same day as the last part of Harry Potter came out. The day where everything ends. What a good omen! And it was painful. Not the 'Gamma Knife' as there is no knife involved, just concentrated radiation. But the screws! Four of them to fix the metal frame to my skull. "Just like a bee sting.." I hear the Neurosurgeon describe the pain he is going to inflict on me. THAT BEE would have not fit through the door!! And than the pressure! I swear they cracked my skull. The two M5 screws in the back of my head were the worst. As one of the tumors sits low next to the brain stem, they had to put that torture device on low. That positioned the rear screws so low that they had to go through some muscle tissue. Yikes. That day I was at the hospital from 6am to 10pm. They shot 14 tumors 28 times. Each shooting or zapping took between 3 and 28 minutes. And with the head resting on two screws in the back of the head/neck, the tummy got a pretty good workout.

It took about two months for my holes in the neck to heal. The headaches got better and the numb feeling went nearly away. So October was a pretty good month for me. Until the 31st. All the ghosts came back when my scan showed that one tumor was still growing while the others stayed stable. I was pretty upset (I wanted them tumors dead!) and the docs had to decide what to do. Dr. Antonucci, my former Radiation Oncologist had just left the Beaumont group and they had to catch up on my case. They worked quick any my next Gamma Knife surgery is set to be on the 10th of November. This Thursday. I am freaking out a little bit but I do try to stay positive as the docs act as aggressive as the cancer does.

So much for now, keep your fingers crossed.