So day two, no big deal but I have pictures this time. Close up of me in my mask and the big old brain zapper machine.

They have lasers that are used to align my position. The panels on the left and right come out and take pictures of my head and position. They come back in and make adjustments to the table before treatment starts. Then the big machine at the top shoots me with radiation. It is pretty cool how it works. It is a beam of radiation with and aperture that adjusts as it moves around my head to block the beam. So if you aim a flashlight at the wall and had cut outs that you placed over the flashlight blocking part of the beam that is what the machine does so it can target specific areas and only hit what it needs to.

​Well first Chemo and Radiation done. Other than a slightly queasy stomach that could be from not eating for 5 hours I feel fine. The mask is kind of a pain. Very tight and hurts my scar a bit. Will try and get a picture tomorrow. It is a creepy feeling being locked in place with a cage around your face and then some big machine blasting radiation at your head. I cannot see as the mask prevents me from opening my eyes. I sure hope I don’t get a cold. I cannot breathe out my mouth as well. I hope they let me have the mask when this is all done. 

1 down 29 to go! Then hopefully this little bastard will be dead.

So this whole tumor thing and the internet sucks. Just google glioblastoma (GBM) and average life span and you might want to start shopping for a casket. I had not spoken to any of my Doctors about my “odds” just because it is a pretty difficult conversation. And I sorta did not want to know. Well we had a great conversation with my Radiation Oncologist Dr Jerry Joboin and he said I am not a typical GBM patient. I have everything positive I can hope for AND it might not be a full blown GBM. That is extremely positive and may indicate we caught it early or during a transformation from a lower grade tumor to the higher grade. He was very encouraging and said I would be a desirable candidate on almost any trial. When you hear your chances are more in the 5-6 year range and that is because the technology has not been around long enough to have results better than that it is a good start. Plus the amount of research and technology is booming so often the best defense is just being around long enough for the next breakthrough to occur. It is very uplifting knowing you have someone in your corner like that. I actually feel like I can look forward to a full life. It is still going to suck most of the time but it is a better start than the data we initially thought.