My hubby and his Oligodendroglioma....

Hello everyone

I'm not sure how to start but needless to say that when it happened, I feel like I let him down. 40 years of a wonderful marriage and we know each other so well so why didn't I just frog march him to the GP. 

I could see changes in him on his left side...his beautiful smile became crooked over the last few years; he started limping on his left leg; his foot would slap down on the ground when we went for our walks; his arm no longer straight hung straight and his grip was weaker when he held my hand. Over the previous few weeks, he had started suffering the odd headache and light headedness when he turned over in the bed... His colleague had noticed the limp but he put it down to arthritis.

So, 2 days into the lockdown, our lives changed forever. My darling husband came downstairs in the morning, made himself a a cup of tea and without warning, appeared to suffer a stroke followed within a minute or so, by a seizure. It was terrifying! CT and MRI scans ruled out a stroke but confirmed a diagnosis of a brain tumour; an 'Oligodendroglioma' on the frontal temporal region of his brain.

A few days later, we had a video consultation with a neuro-oncologist who believed the tumour to be benign. But he added ominously, "no benign tumour is ever 100% benign as they can have a tendency to turn nasty"! He thought the surgery could be postponed for 3 months allowing time for the dreaded virus to ease and ITU beds to become available. The tumour is/was slow growing and shouldn't cause him any further episodes. So it was over to the drug Keppra to keep any further seizures at bay...and that they did and still do, touch wood.

Over those 3 months, I noticed a specific change in my husband's physical well being, his walking...he kept veering to the left. Ofcourse, he didn't notice a thing, bless him. When the neuro-oncologist video called us in early July, my husband used his favourite words to describe how he was..."I'm fine". Muggins was having none of that...not any more!

The Neuro-Oncologist reckoned that the tumour must have grown as this particular symptom had deteriorated. Numerous scans were expedited. The results showed 'white spots'...It had turned malignant! On 4th August, he had his surgery. Sadly, they were only able to remove 20% as the rest was diffused with the brain. 

He's just finished his 33 treatments of radiotherapy. He smiled through each one and the radiographers adored his positivity and his funky T-shirts especially the one that read, 'I don't need Google, my wife knows everything'...  .  Yes, he lost most of his beautiful silver hair with an immediate request for our boys to give him a 'Kojak'. 'What's a Kojak', was the response from son number 1. Luckily, he didn't suffer the skin blisters to his scalp because he would apply aloe vera gel post treatment and coconut oil before bedtime. One of our neighbours had bought them for him having read about the side effects.

Chemotherapy (PCV) starts on 23rd November....6 cycles, each cycle being 6 weeks long. I think  he (and we) are ready to face it.

Like many others who are faced with cancer, we hope, we pray, and count on the support of our family and friends. We thank the doctors and nursing staff for their continued commitment magnificent work.

We are grateful to Macmillan and Maggie for listening and for just 'being there' in our darkest moments. 

We have no idea of the prognosis because we didn't want to know at the outset. Ofcourse, I've done a lot of reading and research so I have a fair idea. Even now, we want to wait for the treatment to finish 1st. My husband is gentle, sensitive and emotional...he would not cope. We do know that there is no cure but hopefully, it is manageable. He understands and accepts that. By God's grace, the surgeons were able to operate and are still giving him the best chance and for that we are truly grateful!

Thank you for reading. This has been a spot of therapy for me.....

Pipcy