Cancer Crawl, 18 Feb 2025 That’s “T minus ten.” I had my first dose of radiation today. Besides the better mask, they now allow you (encourage even) to crank music in the room while the procedure happens. I chose XTC Black Sea. The room is totally different from the Jewish but not fancier. Just different. …
Author Archives: Jonathan Sterne
Infusion, not like tea
14 Feb 2025 Cancer Crawl So today I woke up before 6am to get down to Mass General for my first infusion. As a bonus, I fell asleep with a stuffed animal next to me and later awoke with Carrie sleeping to my side, so that was awesome. She arrived “late” last night. I have …
Signing one’s brain away
Cancer Crawl 8 Feb 2025 It was an absolutely exhausting week but in the end it’s not so hard. There’s a three page document that lists side effects and likely outcomes, and you sign it, and then they can radiate your brain. And it was so anticlimactic because I’d been around the block twice with …
That damn blood/brain barrier
Cancer Crawl 5 Feb 2025 Erratum: there was a 4th option I failed to mention on Thursday which is a sort of radiotherapy whack-a-mole where they radiate lesions as they start to cause symptoms. We’re not considering this one (for one thing, that’s a potentially infinite number of radiation treatments) so I’m not saying much …
Bad news / good news
Cancer Crawl, 31 Jan 2025 The tests have all come back, so I have news. Strap in because it’s a bumpy ride. Bad news: the mets in my brain have grown, and there is one spot where there is some bleeding. I am probably not symptomatic apart from twice getting a numb tongue for 10 …
24 Jan 2025 Cancer Crawl: Pause or Shift?
This will be another symptoms and side effects post. I really want to write about shrinkage and some other more philosophical topics but that has to wait. The good news is that there is good news to share. Let’s go! Good news: sleep. I put the 15 degree foam wedge on top of the 25 …
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20 Jan 2025 Cancer Crawl: Works in Progress
It’s been a week so here is a check-in. Things have been pretty rough on the symptom/side-effect front. I did have friends in town this weekend and got to see them a couple times, which was very nice. I’ve been coughing up lots of blood and/or bloody phlegm (a known side effect of several of …
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