So I had been suffering symptoms for some months that I didn’t think were directly related to the cancer.
First, for months I had been getting increasingly bad headaches. A big part of that seemed to be related to vision problems that started showing up. Simply put, I have double vision. This started in the spring as something I only noticed every now and then, and it is constant now. I got new glasses and they take care of it at distances, but up close like a computer screen or reading it still persists. It makes reading very difficult, and as I type this, I have one eye closed so I can see only one image. At the end of the workday, the eye strain really creates pain behind my eyes.
There’s also severe jaw pain that has gotten progressively worse. I can’t eat sandwiches or burgers right now because I can’t open my jaw far enough. I’ve been seeing a TMJ specialist for this and was told that the cause for this is usually stress which brings on clinching. He made me a mouthguard that I wear on my lower teeth to prevent this, but there has been no improvement.
Well, it turns out all of these problems are direct results of my cancer. I saw a neurologist about the headaches and she ordered an MRI.
They found new bone lesions (tumors) that have been growing in my skull. These are from lung cancer cells that have spread beyond the lungs. It looks like there is also some cancer around one of the nerves of my eye and in the lining around my brain, but not in the brain itself.
The lesions are causing the jaw muscles to spasm, and they believe the vision issues are caused by the growth around the optic nerve.
So, starting next week, I will be getting whole brain radiation treatments every weekday for 2 weeks. The goal is to shrink or destroy these lesions, and hopefully, get relief. The possible side effects are fatigue, nausea and I might lose all my hair.
We also found disease in my femurs after I told them about pain I was having there, so they’ll treat my legs as well.
It’s bad news but we are also looking forward to starting and finishing the treatments so that I can feel better. Hopefully the side effects won’t be too bad and I won’t miss too much work.
Thanks everybody for all the support and prayers.