Actually, It Is Brain Surgery

I am now scheduled to have surgery in one week.  Is it possible for such a thing to be a pleasant surprise?  I have been living for almost two years under the impression that I would never be a candidate for further surgery because of the diffuse nature of my cancer.  So I am truly glad that this is not the case but after purging even the possibility of more surgery from my consciousness for so long, I'm once again trying to adjust to a new reality. 

Longest Day

Looking north from the roof

Happy summer solstice or winter solstice for friends in the Southern Hemisphere.  We're basking in clear San Francisco skies (a bit unusual for the season) for the longest day of sunlight for the year.  I'm afraid the day does feel acutely long since I've been up before first light and I doubt I will close my eyes until well after night has fallen.  I am feeling quite preoccupied.  Tomorrow morning we will meet with the surgeon and discuss the most prudent and promising ways to slice portions out of my brain for removal.  I'm not sure if I'm going to get just a detailing (biopsy) or a major remodel (debulking) but either way, we're both anxious and looking forward to meeting with the surgeon tomorrow so that we can finally have some of these questions answered.

Change is good, right?

Walt's backseat perspective heading home

Today was the day for my three month MRI and visit with my doctor.  It's not good news.  There is new growth and my tumor has changed.  This is what brain tumors do - they don't stay stagnant for very long.  The grow, change, evolve, mutate.  It is hard to know what exactly has happened but we will be facing some hard decisions soon.

Happy Anniversary

It is hard to believe that it has been a year since we snapped this picture in front of our house in Canberra before we hopped in a rented car (our hastily packed nine suitcases somehow crammed in there) and headed for Sydney and home.  Looking back, I now realize what a complete altered state I was living in for the next six weeks.  Brain cancer, brain surgery, chemotherapy - the kind of words that make you do a double take - is this real?  Did I hear that correctly?  I was fortunate enough to have never had a serious illness in my life and so nothing compelled me to think about it too much.