Further ponder

Posted on June 8, 2008
Filed Under All, My Brain, Photos |

MRIs October 2006(L) and May 2006

We’ve started to master the OsiriX open source DICOM image viewer for Mac OS X. It really flies on the new Mac Pro, and I was flipping through the images from my most recent MRI, and trying to compare them with one of the first images, taken in 2006, before radiation and chemotherapy started.

I’ll have to check this with my neuro-oncologists, but I think th two images above show roughly the same region of my brain about 20 months apart - note the very distinct tumor structure on the left (2006) and much more diffuse tumor and ‘flair’ (an area of damage and detritus left over from radiation therapy) on the right. My neuro-oncology team at UCSF continues to be very encouraged by these images.

More importantly, I feel good, and my daily exercises are producing an ever-stronger body, now that I’m off massive doses of steroids that were used to control brain swelling (but which wrecked the strength of my major muscles). I’ve lost 20 lbs., and am walking further and lifting heavier weights at the gym almost weekly. So I’m encouraged, I’m hopeful and turning my attention to the weighty matters of life, like new software…

Comments

5 Responses to “Further ponder”

  1. Andy on June 9th, 2008 2:32 am

    That’s great news - particularly the walking.

  2. Lonn on June 9th, 2008 9:41 am

    Chris - those images are amazing and very encouraging! We think and talk of you often.
    Lonn & Linda

  3. cg on June 9th, 2008 1:36 pm

    Thanks, guys. Encouragement much appreciated…!

  4. Dave S @ Adobe on June 9th, 2008 8:35 pm

    Chris,

    I’m so happy to hear all the good news. Here’s to more encouraging reports!

  5. The good and bad about transparency : www.gulker.com on July 22nd, 2008 8:18 am

    [...] I’ll repeat that the news was very good for a person with glioma. The tumor is stable, indeed a faint shadow of its pre-radiation-and-chemo self. [...]

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