LIZ WALTON'S STORY - Journey with an AA2 - 15 June 2004.

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"Dear Denis   I was "surfing" the web tonight when I found your site and read of Marg's battle and the way you have continued the fight to be quite inspiring, so much so, that I had a great need to write you a little of my own story.

I was diagnosed in Nov 2001 with a Grade 2 Astrocytoma, it was a day that I will never forget, because on that day I thought my whole world had ended and I felt that I was spiralling into a deep dark hole that I would never be able to return from. It was interesting that the first thing I thought to do was to be strong not for myself but for my family and I now realise that by doing so it was the only thing that kept me from losing the plot completely.  

I had my first op 3 days after diagnosis, (no point mucking around) and thankfully the dexamethasone gave me such a wonderful sense of euphoria that for me it was a walk in the park.....or so I thought! My surgeon is a fabulous guy who has been nothing but honest with me from day one, and i have absolute faith in the fact that he will always tell it like it is for me.

I only want to know the truth about my situation so that I can then make an educated decision about my health. I sailed through the 4 hour op which by the way, I had to stay awake for, because the tumour is in my speech centre (left parietal/temporal lobe) and in that way my surgeon could tell how far he could go without compromising my speech (my friends tell me that I am a bit of a talker). So every now and then I would wake up and have a chat and then go back to sleep.

After surgery (and this is what I have in common with Marg) I also developed a reaction to the dreaded Dilantin which made me so unwell within a week of surgery that i was beside my self. It was worse than having the op. So my surgeon put me on Tegretol and lo and behold I was allergic to that as well. For three weeks I was as they say "as crook as a dog". I went back to my Neurologist had bloods done which showed that my levels were out of the ball park and had caused quite severe liver inflammation. Am happy to say that I am now on an anti-convulsant that agrees with me.

In June 2003 after a regular 6 monthly MRI the tumour had grown again, back to the table.........this time the pre-op dexamethasone didnt work and needless to say I was absolutely petrified. However, all went well and my last MRI in February 2004 looks fine for now.   I still have not had radiotherapy, as I am holding out for the big guns when I need them.   During this time I have made many adjustments in my life. I have given up my career (which I loved) and have become a stay at home Mum ( to my one and only daughter who is 17!). I now know longer do anything that i dont want to do (well within limits).

Since that terrible November day I have realised that life is such a wonderful gift and we are all blessed with what ever time we are given to give and receive love from the special people in our lives. My husband has been the most wonderful support and has gone out of his way to ensure that my biggest dream came true last year in April by taking me on a 6 week trip to Europe. I still smile when I think of it.

In retrospect and I know that this may sound strange but, the tumour has been a bit of a blessing really, it has made us realise what is important in our lives. All the wealth, status and material things in the world are not important in comparison to the people that we hold dear to ourselves.   It has taken me a long time to come to terms with what has happened to me, and i have never said "why me", because in the long run we all have our burdens that we have to bear and we all have to deal with them in our own way. However, I still have moments of sadness especially at 2 am when I am writing to you and telling my story. Luckily they dont last long and it's usually something very simple that brings me back to remembering what joy there is in this world, like my cat climbing over the keyboard looking for a pat.  

I know that there are a lot of people out there struggling with their own illness and that for us brain tumour sufferers there aren't a lot of options, but hopefully with your obvious dogged determination to make changes in the quest for answers and treatments that your fight will affect and change peoples lives for the better.   All the best for the future   Kindest Regards   Liz Walton"