Alison had surgery this Monday, December 7, 2009, at UCSF for a brain tumor that made its unwelcome presence felt at the end of October. The preliminary diagnosis is "glioblastoma". We will have a final diagnosis on Thursday the 10th. Glioblastomas are a type of brain tumor without any specific cause, they just happen.

For those of you who don’t know the story: Alison has a history of migraines. She was actually hale and hearty through the third week of October, during her vacation in Hawaii. By the last week of October she had significant fatigue, then the symptoms that we now know to be the brain tumor began: some confusion, difficulty finding the word she was looking for, trouble putting the steps of a task in the right order. She went to work on October 30, not feeling quite right, and ended up at Children’s Hospital Oakland ER with a severe headache and disorientation. She was seen by a neurologist and had an MRI. At first we thought this could be an acute inflammatory reaction in the brain causes by the flu or by the H1N1 vaccine that she had in October. However after reexamining the MRI, she was referred for a consultation with a neurosurgeon at UCSF. He proposed a course of corticosteroids (like cortisone)and then reevaluate her clinically and with sophisticated MRI techniques. She did not get better, and the scans were suggesting a diagnosis of brain tumor. She was scheduled for surgery on December 14, 2009. As she waited the 10 days for surgery, she continued to have problems with memory, word finding, and developed some balance issues. By this past weekend (the 5th and 6th), she had worsening symptoms. The final straw was a feeling on numbness on the right side of her body. She went to Alta Bates ER Sunday night (12/6/09) and was then transferred to UCSF. After repeat scans, the neurosurgeon did not think she should wait until next week and put her on the surgery schedule first thing Monday morning.

So, Monday, 12/7/09, “a day that will live in infamy” which Kirk says to Alison every year because it also happens to be their anniversary, Alison went into surgery. Dr. Parsa took out a 4 x 3 cm lesion in her left parietal area, but did not feel he could safely remove a smaller (2 x 3 cm lesion) second area or the bridge between the two lesions. Dr. Parsa did not want to damage healthy brain tissue while attempting to reach tumor. He estimates he was able to take out about 75% of the tumor "load" that was there.

Alison being Alison, she rallied through the post operative period and had fewer symptoms shortly after surgery than she did prior to surgery! She still has issues -- the peripheral vision to her right side is gone and she still has some memory and word finding difficulties. However she is speaking clearly, knows everyone, is moving all four limbs well and most importantly she is definitely her sweet and sparkly self. After only one day in the Neuro ICU, she is recovering from surgery wonderfully. She has some post op headache (NO KIDDING????!!!), is eating like The Hulk (can you say “steroids?” -- used to decrease the brain swelling) and is walking and talking. She is on the medical floor at UCSF, but visitors are limited as she is prone to getting over-stimulated at this early stage of her recovery. She will be going home in the next day or two.

We are still awaiting the final pathology diagnosis. A fancy entity called the Tumor Board will convene on 12/10/09 and all the experts at UCSF in pathology, neurosurgery, medical oncology and radiation oncology will confer about her and make a recommendation as to best treatment option(s) for her.

We who love Alison know this: she loves cards, emails, good wishes, and human contact. On the other hand, overstimulation comes easily, so in these early days, phone calls are a bit too much. Questions frustrate her when she can’t come up with the words or the recall for the answer. We’ll keep you posted via the blog. Kirk is at Command Central, he has a lot of things to keep track of, so again written communication will likely work best for now. -- Deborah