The Liz Army:
A blog
Patient. Patient advocate. Researcher. Student.
There are more than 500 posts here. Use this search to look for something specific. Good luck!
A note about my oldest posts: I began blogging about brain cancer in 2008, at age 29. I had no background or knowledge about healthcare when I started. Please excuse typos and other misconceptions. What you read here is me in real time, like a time capsule.
Disney’s MRI is a lie
According to a recent brain scan taken at the "What's Inside Your Head?" kiosk at Disney's Tomorrowland, it looks as though I have no abnormal brain tissue. This either means I'm all better or Disneyland is a liar.
There will be seizures
So now it's just down to me and 3,500mg of Keppra to fight the good fight.
This is your skin on drugs
Between the neurologist and the dermatologist they realized my skin was photosensitive and that I need to wear burly sunscreen—SPF 55+ that shields from the UVA and UVB spectrum.
Radiation side effects
I don't care about seizures, brain surgery, chemotherapy, MRIs, or frequent blood draws, but the thought of radiation makes me feel like I really have cancer. No jokes; this is for real.
Evidence of symptoms
I can't believe what I am reading. It was the me I was a year ago asking the nurse about symptoms I now know were due to a brain tumor.
Task number one: save your life
I've read many books and articles written by people with cancer about the day of their diagnosis. The stories are emotional and dramatic, but I read these accounts like an outsider because I didn't have that kind of moment.
Graphing test results
Another reason I like Kaiser: I can make custom graphs from their Web site based on previous test results!
I choose to be above average
Imagine survival as a bell curve with a normal distribution. If the "average" person survives 2-5 years, and the "below average" person survives less than 2 years, why not decide to be the "above average" person who lives 5+ years?
Right after brain surgery
This was me approximately two hours after brain surgery in February. I was awake but pretended to be asleep for a dramatic effect. I even fool myself.