Tom

Tom has left us  -  he will always be in our hearts.

Tom had saved this poem as draft, we believe he would’ve wanted us to share this with you…

My candle burns at both ends

It will not last the night

But ah, my foes, and oh, my friends -

It gives a lovely light

by Edna St. Vincent Millay

Room 151

Tom has spent the last 6 weeks in hospital following his 3rd operation. He is now  going through chemo and radiotherapy again. Tom is terribly week, but we will celebrate his 50th birthday this Sunday. And I have a birthday wish for him:

Life is beautiful and miracles do exist! So please send Tom all the energy and love you have for his birthday.

A big thank you to all of you.
Milena

Leave no stone unturned!

I stayed at a homeopathic clinic that is run by medical doctors practising homeopathy. They have scientifically (big medcial university in Germany) confirmed studies and treatments where they managed to actually remove metastasing breast cancer in women.

Good thing is, I do feel better now and have more energy. The most amazing thing was that I had an almost immediate reaction to the homeopathic medication. They continue the treatment remotely, me sending them information on certain parameters (weight, blood pressure, blood sugar levels, and other symptoms like headaches, but also fears and nightmares and other more esoteric measurements of my well-being) and they send me the medication.  I’ll probably return for another stay in a couple of weeks.

Since healing depends a lot on trust I will have to decide at some point, whether to forego the “classic medicine” with strong chemotherapy (which was not very successful so far) and to fully embrace the homeopathic treatment. I’m also looking into changing over into another “traditional” hospital.

Cheers,

Tom

MRI Results: Gliobastard back with a vengeance

The monster has grown back significantly during the past two months, now almost totally filling the tumour cavity left by the last operation snd extending into the other half of my poor brain (it always affects the weakest part, doesn’t it ?). I haven’t spoken to my Neurosurgeon yet, but my Oncologist assumed a grave voice when I talked to her on the phone.

I am feeling physically fit, if a bit tired at times, but the psychological stress on Milena and our two girls is taking its toll and I’m not exactly behaving like Mr. Cool at all times. Don’t know what we are going to do next, but we’ve decided to enjoy the time we have together and to build a lot of good memories to be able to draw from in the future.

I’ll continue to post and if anyone wants to come down here to drink with me to life, love, and good friends you know how to find me.

Cheers xxx,
Tom

A French Holiday

Back from a family holiday in France where we spent two weeks in a rented castle. It was great fun and we lived and ate like kings. The girls each brought a friend and KH and his wife Karin from Frankfurt, as well as my brother-in-law Gerrit and his daughter Inès from South Africa later joined us. KH is an excellent cook and my bro’ Gerrit is an expert braai-master.

That and the fact that there was a well-stocked French supermarket nearby (foie gras, fresh lobster and fish, regional cheeses, nice big cuts of Charolais beef, fine wines; you get the picture), ensured that the culinary delights were on par with the cultural ones (Château de Chenonceaux, old towns of Tours and Poitiers, Beaune, Macon, Nuits-St. Georges and a lot of other famous names in the Burgundy wine-growing region). My darling Milena did a fantastic job navigating us safely on over 1’000 miles of country roads full of lunatic Citroën and Peugeot drivers – think “Trafic” by Jacques Tati.

Below is a picture of the pile we rented. It was very romantic, but not very clean (eh bien, les Français..).

To end our holiday in style, we went to the Montreux Jazz Festival and saw a fabulous concert by Kool and the Gang. More about this later. So we all got back a few days ago, happy, relaxed and with a few extra pounds to carry around.

Unfortunately, where there is light, there is shadow: I was having strong headaches during the last weeks and my Oncologist suspects that the old Gliobastard is on the warpath again. An MRI next week will hopefully show. In the meantime, quadrupling my daily dose of Cortisone has at least alleviated the pressure in my head.

Cheers and a happy summer to everyone,
Tom

Unhappy anniversary

Exactly a year ago, on May 16, 2008 my symptoms started, and I was diagnosed with a brain tumour a few days later. I have no intention to open a bottle to celebrate. This may sound bitter, but hey, I just don’t think this occasion warrants a party. I will, however, clean and fire up my Weber Genesis grill and treat my family to a nice braai (afrikaans for barbecue). Yummy – but first to work!

No progress is good progress

Couldn’t be arsed to post for a while now, sorry! I am currently taking extended beauty sleeps (not that it really helps) during my days. This is probably due to the medications. Also, my eyesight is down to 40%, which makes working with a laptop rather difficult. I did get a white stick, however, in order to alert other pedestrians to give me a wide berth or risk being run over by a massive blind guy. This has also paid off in another way, as I was offered a seat on the tram by a well-meaning elderly lady – which I bashfully declined, mumbling something about tunnel-vision and not being totally infirm.

This weeks’ MRI results were quite encouraging, with no signifant new growth and the tumour apparently reacting to the chemotherapy since less contrast agent was absorbed. I have now scheduled chemotherapy sessions until October 2009 and I will have my head examined again in about two month’s time.

My reading projects have been shelved, literally, due to my sight impairment, but I hope to be able to resume reading soon with the help of a good magnifying glass.

In other news, our daughter Laura had her debutante’s ball at the opera house here, and boy did she look stunning! Young Stella is just back from a school trip to London, but wants to go back soon as the time alotted for shopping was far too short in her learned opinion. But before we go London again we will spend some of our summer holidays in France, near the castles of the Loire, where we have rented a house with a pool, a gourmet kitchen, and a grand piano in the hall. Can’t wait to go!

Cheerio,
Tom