Chemo training

Today I got trained by my oncologist's PA on how to do chemo. The final tumor pathology grading came back as a grade 2 oligodendroglioma (which is the best news!). And now we have a plan for the first rounds of treatment.

On Wednesday, I will start a 5-day on, 23-day off sequence of oral chemo cycles where I take a drug called Temodar at bedtime. Every two cycles, I will have an MRI to monitor the progress of the therapy. This treatment could go on for a long time (multiple years). So far, we have the first 12 cycles scheduled. Side effects are expected to be mild with some prescribed anti-nausea medication taken with the chemo itself. I'm not expected to lose hair or compromise my immune system greatly with this course of treatment. The prognosis for my beard remains strong!

In the mean time, we are also waiting for genetic testing to be done on my tumor samples by Foundation Medicine which may turn up additional treatments that can be taken simultaneously with this chemo. We should know more about their results in the coming weeks.