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Blogging in B Minor

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Blogging in B Minor is a blog maintained by singer/songwriter Mark Miller and contains thoughts, information and discussion regarding songwriting and the business of music-making. From the craft of songwriting to the business end of the music industry to

Recent Posts Tagged With 'oligoastrocytoma'

• fMRI - Prelim Results

  Posted on Wednesday October 1st, 2008 at 09:19 in blood brain barrier, Brain Tumor, Faith, MRI, mri enhancement, my story, oligoastrocytoma, primary motor cortex, seizure

  Well, the preliminary results came in last night as I met with my Neuro-oncologist.  Not so good.  My last MRI showed a slight bit of contrast as you may recall but no growth which was good news.  ...

• fMRI - Moved Up to Tomorrow - 9/29/08

  Posted on Monday September 29th, 2008 at 14:12 in Brain Tumor, brain tumor survivor, Faith, fmri, MRI, mri enhancement, oligoastrocytoma, oncologist, seizure

  My next scan was originally scheduled for October 6th but I have experienced a few focal seizures over the past several weeks that have made us decide to move this up and take a look now.  The last s...

• 7/28 MRI Results

  Posted on Thursday July 31st, 2008 at 13:18 in blood brain barrier, Brain Tumor, chemotherapy, glioma, God, MRI, mri enhancement, oligoastrocytoma, radiation oncologist, radiation therapy, survivor, temodar

  My MRI was on Tuesday and I had an appointment yesterday with my Neuro-oncologist.  Overall the news was good.  The size of the tumor has not changed which is great news, again.  There has been an ...

• A Survivor From Day 1

  Posted on Monday June 9th, 2008 at 15:46 in Brain Tumor, brain tumor survivor, glioma, inspiration, my story, oligoastrocytoma, survivor

  I was out on a few internet boards this morning and found an interesting post that posed the question “what constitutes a brain tumor survivor?” The discussion centered around whether or ...

• Sometimes We Stumble…

  Posted on Sunday May 25th, 2008 at 15:30 in Brain Tumor, gbm, God, my story, oligoastrocytoma

  I think I typically keep things pretty well in perspective considering what I have happening in my life.  I’m speaking of just my health, prognosis and these aspects of my life.  I had some pr...

• Supplements

  Posted on Monday April 28th, 2008 at 10:02 in blood brain barrier, Brain Tumor, chemotherapy, my story, nutrition, oligoastrocytoma, supplements

  I’ve talked quite a bit about supplements in the past so I thought I would post a nice picture of the supplements I take on a daily basis.  These have changed since I have completed radiatio...

• Neuro-Oncology and Neuro-Radiology Appts

  Posted on Thursday April 24th, 2008 at 14:29 in Brain Tumor, brain tumor research, brain tumor survivor, fatigue, my story, neuro oncologist; neuro radiologist, oligoastrocytoma, oncologist

  I had two appointments this week - one on Tuesday which was a final follow up with my neuro-radiologist and another yesterday with my neuro-oncologist.  On Tuesday, we covered any issues I may be hav...

• MRI Today - 6 Months of Chemo Completed

  Posted on Monday March 24th, 2008 at 11:17 in Brain Tumor, brain tumor survivor, chemotherapy, fatigue, imrt, MRI, oligoastrocytoma, prayer, radiation therapy, temodar

  As of last night, I took the last of my Temodar to reach the 6-month mark which is the official “standard of care” if you will.  I guess it’s a meaningful milestone in that most of ...

• NBTF Brain Tumor Community Survey

  Posted on Tuesday March 4th, 2008 at 17:25 in astrocytoma, Brain Tumor, brain tumor research, brain tumor resources, brain tumor survivor, gbm, glioma, oligoastrocytoma

  The National Brain Tumor Foundation and the Brain Tumor Society are launching a survey into the needs of the brain tumor community. From what I have read it’s one of the largest surveys attemp...

• The Complex World of Brain Tumor Treatment

  Posted on Sunday March 2nd, 2008 at 08:50 in astrocytoma, Brain Tumor, brain tumor research, brain tumor survivor, Cancer, chemotherapy, gbm, glioma, imrt, my story, oligoastrocytoma, radiation

  One of the most difficult aspects I have faced as a brain tumor survivor is making decisions around how to treat my tumor. In the beginning, there are a million different alternatives thrown in your ...

• Quick Post

  Posted on Friday February 22nd, 2008 at 13:00 in astrocytoma, Brain Tumor, brain tumor survivor, chemo hints, chemotherapy, chemotherapy; zofran, my story, oligoastrocytoma, temodar

  Last night was most interesting. I was very tired and went to bed at 9pm. I took my dose of Zofran (anti-nausea medication) around that time as per usual and then…..I drifted off to sleep! I ...

• 5-Day Chemo Regimen

  Posted on Friday February 15th, 2008 at 15:04 in Brain Tumor, brain tumor research, Cancer, chemotherapy, gbm, glioma, my story, oligoastrocytoma, oncologist, radiation, radiation therapy, temodar

  Well, I have decided that when I am finished with cycle #5, I am going to try the 5-day chemo regimen. With this schedule, I will take Temodar for 5 days and then be off of the drug for effectively 2...

• Next Steps & Enjoying Life

  Posted on Saturday February 9th, 2008 at 16:18 in Brain Tumor, chemotherapy, glioma, my story, oligoastrocytoma, temodar

  In discussing my scans with my oncologist, there were no revelations of course.  However, I did get into a lengthy discussion about the 6-month decision point.  I also talked with her about my fatig...

• December 07 MRI / Deja Vu’

  Posted on Wednesday December 5th, 2007 at 15:38 in Brain Tumor, chemotherapy, gbm, MRI, oligoastrocytoma, oncologist, radiation therapy, seizure, temodar

  It’s time for my 60 day check so I will have an MRI tomorrow morning at 8:00am. As per usual, I’ll hand-carry the films for an 11am meeting with my neurosurgeon and oncologist so we can d...

• Post Radiation MRI

  Posted on Tuesday October 2nd, 2007 at 10:17 in Brain Tumor, chemotherapy, imrt, MRI, my story, oligoastrocytoma, radiation therapy

  As many of you know, I had an MRI yesterday that gauges the state of my brain tumor after 6 weeks of radiation and chemotherapy. I was quite nervous about it for obvious reasons. Well, the good news...

• Brain Tumor Resource Library

  Posted on Monday September 17th, 2007 at 13:32 in astrocytoma, Brain Tumor, brain tumor research, brain tumor resources, chemotherapy, neurosurgery, oligoastrocytoma

  For quite some time now I have wanted to organize my research and documentation in such a way that I could share it online. I have come up with a tool that allows me to do that but I am still working ...

• Update - Treatment 17 of 33

  Posted on Wednesday August 22nd, 2007 at 07:08 in Brain Tumor, chemotherapy, my story, oligoastrocytoma, radiation, radiation therapy, temodar

  I have completed radiation treatment 17 of 33 so I am officially more than halfway through this initial course of therapy. Of course the chemo is daily as I have mentioned. Same side effects as I ha...

• Brain Tumor Treatment Update

  Posted on Friday August 10th, 2007 at 10:40 in Brain Tumor, Cancer, chemotherapy, glioma, imrt, my story, oligoastrocytoma, radiation therapy, temodar

  I just wanted to take a moment and provide a quick update on my treatment. I am concluding my second week of radiation and chemotherapy today. Thus far, I’m happy with the progress in terms of...

• Radiation and Chemo Started

  Posted on Tuesday July 31st, 2007 at 08:47 in Brain Tumor, chemotherapy, glioma, oligoastrocytoma, radiation, radiation therapy

  Just a quick post and update. I started radiation yesterday and then followed that by chemotherapy last night using the drug temodar. The radiation was fairly uneventful. The cumulative effects of ...

• Brain Tumor Books

  Posted on Tuesday July 24th, 2007 at 20:39 in Brain Tumor, brain tumor resources, Cancer, chemotherapy, gbm, oligoastrocytoma, oncologist, tumor

  I wanted to take a minute and post some information related to some books I’ve picked up over the past months that have really been invaluble to me in researching my condition. I did a lot of r...

• Update on Keegan and My Treatment

  Posted on Friday July 20th, 2007 at 09:05 in Brain Tumor, Cancer, infant, keegan, my story, oligoastrocytoma, seizure

  Keegan is doing really good. He had a bit of an issue with jaundice for several days that we were monitoring closely but that seems to be ok at this point. We took him to the doctor just to have him...