The Medical Basics

The Cause: Type 2a Astrocytoma. Growth history very slow. Age unknown.

The Problem: Epilepsy. Minor seizures initially triggered by a very light concussion, which returned over time briefly overcoming Keppra and giving me regular seizures for a few weeks. Stable for 6+ months again now, since day 3 of chemo:

The Medicine:
Keppra: 1500 mg 2xdaily - the basic seizure stopper
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levetiracetam

Temodal-165mg/day, 21 on 7 off. The chemo. A newer, more specifically targeted type of chemotherapy.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temozolomide

Medical Marijuana - 1g/day edible capsules of refined resin cooked into coconut oil. I also smoke regularly, but recognize that as more of a comfort component. (Smoking is only "medically" justifiable as to be comparable with edible when a quick restoration of levels is needed IMO)

That's a very basic summary. A couple points I need to make: Do NOT read the stats on Astrocytoma and freak out. Mine is so slow growing it took 3 years for them to catch the sign on MRIs, and there's an interesting and complicated potential differentiating point with childhood initial growth. Otherwise, I think the M.M. will need a longer discussion

Getting in Touch

Hey,

I just wanted to be clear to everyone that I'm up for talking about things if you have questions. This message is most important not to my friends and those familiar to me but to anyone who stumbles upon this or is handed it, and is in a situation where they relate to this a bit closer to the heart and would perhaps like to ask some questions, or just vent some of their own story. Feel free to reach me.

Easiest is email: davemjmurphy@gmail.com, but I'm david.murphy98 on Skype as well

Friday, 3 January 2014

Smoothie Science

Holy eh. Interesting piece of information this morning.

I was sitting down, drinking my morning herbal tea, and relaxing. I realized I felt really hungry and hadn't started to drink my morning smoothie as quickly as I should. I just went and drank it pretty quickly. It tasted a bit different than usual and had a slightly different texture. And then I immediately threw up.

I'd forgotten to add the fatty bits. I realized that pretty much right away, and went back over to the blender where more than half of what I'd made to chug through for the morning was left. I added a good pour of avocado oil, and a few tablespoons of coconut oil, mixed it up and poured another glass. Within 60 seconds of finishing vomiting my first smoothie of the day I chugged 500ml of the next one all in one go. Stayed down, felt great. I did that to prove a point. My instinct was my body was rejecting it becaue of the inappropriate macronutrient balance for a morning start up nutrition. My body needs that fat for some reason, and if it takes in just a pure carb shot that big to start it's not cool with it.
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