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

Making Roche rich

Unfortunately, the resuts of the MRI on Wednesday were not all that good, there was some regrowth in the upper part of the tumour cavity, an indication that the current temozolomide chemotherapy has become ineffective. A new approach to the treatment was called for. So on Friday, I made use of my built-in IV-catheder – the portacath – for the first time. During a 3-hour session I got infused with Bevacizumab (trade name Avastin). This is not a chemotherapy drug as such, but it inhibits tumor growth by blocking the formation of new blood vessels (angiogenesis). It is one of Roche’s most successful and expensive products. I will now go for three rounds of treatment at 3-week intervals after which we will re-examine my poor head again. The whole thing has made me extremely tired, I practically slept all weekend, but no other ill side-effects so far.

Of course I am quite disappointed that the chemo didn’t work as well and as long as expected, but I am looking forward to some good results from the new treatment. I’ll keep you posted on the progress.

Good night and cheers,
Tom

Tag

I just got tagged by my friend Kim from Savannah, GA. These are my answers to your questions:

What are you wearing now? jeans, shirt, light sweater, no shoes

Do you nap a lot? only when on chemotherapy

Who was the last person you hugged? my lovely Lady Milena

Novel or poem? novel

What’s for dinner? spaghetti with scallops, chillies, and chorizo sausage

What was the last thing you bought? scallops

What are you listening to right now? Reuben Wilson, Vinyl Junkie

What is your favorite weather and why? sunshine – because it makes me happy and warm and because it’s raining outside

What is on your bed side table? last weekends’ Sunday paper, “The World according to Garp” by John Irving, and ” 2666″ by Roberto Bolaño

What is your most challenging goal right now? staying alive and well

Say something to the person who tagged you Kim, we all need to get together and reminisce about the old times. When are you bringing your boys to Europe? I’m sure Robbie and Ben would get along great with Laura and Stella.

If you could have a house totally paid for, fully furnished anywhere in the world, where would you want it to be? in the Provence

Favorite vacation spot? southern France

Name the things you cannot live without? family, friends, good food and wine

What movies can you watch over and over? none, I like variety

What is your favorite tea flavor? Jasmine green tea

If you could go anywhere in the world for the next hour, where would you go? London for a quick shopping trip

Who is the most interesting person you have ever met? Irvin Shaw

RULES: 1. Respond and rework – answer the questions on your blog, replace one question that you dislike with a question of your own invention, add one more question of your own. 2. Tag eight other un-tagged people.

Starry Night

For his 40th birthday and because we both like to eat well, I invited my friend and business partner to one of Zurich’s most exclusive (and some say most expensive) restaurant, Petermann’s Kunststuben. This venerable establishment has been around for over over 20 years and proudly displays two Michelin stars.

We decided to get the menu, consisting of six courses with two to three little goodies each, so that we would be able to sample a broad selection of Horst Petermann’s art. Here’s what we had:

An amuse-bouche consisting of a boiled quails egg with a vegetable jelly, a wild mushroom mousse topped with mushroom espuma and a crayfish pâté

A starter course with steamed shrimp on a vegetable tabouleh, scallops in a crispy bacon cover on lentils with mint and a lemongrass cappuccino with coriander and curry

A  slice of pepper-crusted salmon on a salade parmentier and a herb vinaigrette

A quail breast lacquered with honey on a red-wine risotto, green asparagus and sautéed foie gras

A slice of poached beef filet with sea salt and mustard oil with a mushroom ravioli and thyme espuma

A selection of cured French cheeses

A chocolate and nut pudding on a pineapple carpaccio with coconut cream and a sesame seed and caramel ice-cream

The whole of course washed down with some delicions wines …. espresso and a very fine digestif ….

A variety of homemade breadrolls were slso served throughout and the very young maître was as attentive and knowledgeable as you’d expect him to be in such a restaurant.

So, you will ask, what was it like?

The restaurant itself is rather small, so the seating arrangements were a bit cramped and it was quite loud. The food variation resulted in some repetition, e.g. 2x espuma, 2x mushrooms. I’m not really a great fan of espuma, the legacy of Ferran Adrià of “El Bulli”. Seems like every cook now has to try out something molecular. If I want something resembling frog spawn on my plate, I’ll order frog spawn.

Yes, but what was it like?

I’ll  sum up my impressions in three categories:

The good: steamed shrimp, quail breast, beef, cheese, dessert – all excellent, cooked to perfection (except the cheese) and impeccably presented

The bad: pepper-coated salmon (pimiento in the crust?), the foie gras was totally overcooked, mint and lentils are probably not such  a good idea, but maybe that’s just me

The ugly: lemongrass cappuccino which looked less like a fresh cappuccino but rather like a glass of yesterday morning’s milk coffee. The taste was quite nice though

Overall fair performance, given the size of the kitchen, the food variety and the fact that almost every seat was taken.

The price? Don’t make me cry again!

Cheerio,
Tom

… and now the good news!

Well, you know what they say: three experts, three opinions. In this case, this is easy for me to live with, as the general view of my MRI results (bar one) is that no new growth has occured, my neurosurgeon even thinks it’s gone back a bit!

We are besides ourselves with joy!

I am convinced that he is correct, since he knows the inside of my head like no one else and the guy with the dissenting opinion (radiologist) incorrectly identified blood vessels showing up on the contrast frames as new tumour growth.

The Temozolomide treatment certainly did help, but I am equally certain that Milena’s magic reiki treatments played a major role in stopping the tumour. Just wanted to share this piece of excellent news with all of you before I’m too happy with drink to write a proper post.

Prost and love to all of you,
Tom

My first Vegetarian Recipe!

Had some lady friends over the other evening and they are all “light” eaters. That afternoon, the pak-choi had smiled upon me as I was ambling through the Globus’s food stalls after a visit to my doctor. I’ve never cooked pak-choi before, but hey, lack of knowledge has never stopped me before! So nere goes, and very nice it was too:

Pak-Choi Stir-Fry

6-8 Pak-Choi, leaves  and stalks separated. Finely slice the stalks and chop the leaves, 2-3 green  chillies finely cut and deseeded, 6-8 scallions or spring onions chopped, 3  cloves garlic, chopped, 6 cm fresh ginger, peeled and grated, 1 tbsp Nuoc Mam Thai fish sauce (optional), coconut fat for frying, 2 tsp of roasted sesame  oil, salt to taste.

Heat the fat and the oil in a wok until  almost smoking. Add the garlic, the scallions, the green chillies and the fish  sauce. Cook for 1-2 minutes stirring constantly. Add the pak-choi stalks and  cook until they are tender crisp. Reduce the heat, add the pak-choi leaves,  mix well and cook covered for another 2-4 minutes until the laves have wilted.  Serve and enjoy. As a variation, you can add some toasted sesame seeds, soy sauce, a little honey and coat well before serving.

Coming up next:

• Starry Night – a dinner in Zurich’s most expensive restaurant
• MRI Results
• Tom’s Book Reviews (if I can be arsed)

Cheerio,
Tom

Port installed

The portacath was installed in my right shoulder on Monday and I could leave the hospital the next day. The whole operation took no more than 10 minutes in all, but I’ve been told it has been performed in South Africa in under 60 seconds (Gerry!) Heck, but that’s where they perform open-heart surgery  with hunting knives.

Glad to be at home again, especially since chemotherapy is back on this week and I am very tired again. Other than a slight discomfort when trying to sleep on my right side there are no noticeable side-effects from getting the port installed and only a small bump is visible under the skin. The port should be ready for its intended use by mid-February. There is a good chance, however, that we won’t be needing it for a while (maybe try some nice recreational drugs instead).

I am not just relying on conventional medicine, of course, I am taking a number of “alternative” medications such as frankincense, Omega-3 acids, etc. I try to  change my diet by cuttting down on red meat and by adding a lot of vegetables. I am also getting daily Reiki sessions by my angel Milena, which really help a lot and I will restart with acupuncture next month. Also, I’m contemplating to get some personal therapy sessions to deal with my subconscious mind. I will keep you posted.

Cheers,
Tom

Next steps

Yesterday’s MRI showed some minor growth at the bottom of the tumour cavity. According to my doctors this is no surprise, but the small amount of growth seems to indicate that the chemotherapy with Temozolomide is working to some extent. Nevertheless, we will prepare to go one step further:

Next Monday I will check into a private hospital and have a portacath installed. This is a little titanium box with a silicone bubble for needle insertion. The box will be inserted under the skin in the upper chest and will be used to deliver intravenous drugs  as well as contrast agents for the MRI and CT-Scans. It will also be used to withdraw blood for the various tests which I will have to undergo during my treatment.

This is a small operation and I should be out of hospital again the next day.

On February 10th I will have another MRI and we will decide then whether it will be necessary to top-up my chemotherapy with Bevacizumab. This is actually not a cancer drug, but stops tumour growth by preventing the formation of new blood vessels.

So here goes, I get an artificial bump on my chest and I probably get to try out a new drug with a fancy name.

In the meantime I’ll eat, drink and try to be merry. My thoughts go out to my friends many of whom have been touched by fate in similar ways.

Cheers,
Tom

Happy 2009

Having spent two beautiful weeks in the Swiss mountains during the holidays, I’m back online to wish you all a very happy and healthy new year. We had two weeks of gorgeous weather here, alas I was unable to ski since my field of vision has become more restricted. The girls had a blast, with Laura skiing like a rocket and Stella carving on her swowboard. Milena and myself took long walks in the winter-wonderland that is Klosters.

I’m going to have my next MRI on January 13th – a bit nervous for that one.

Cheers,
Tom