Tuesday, September 30
In support of
Dana Stein
View Support Registry
Dana Stein
It's been one month since Dana heard the words "brain tumor", and one month later her recovery has been so great you wouldn't know she was facing this journey. This update a longer one, so please read all the way through!
Since the last update, Dana attended the local high school's homecoming parade (Friday), walked 3 miles in the Colorado Brain Tumor Walk and went to the Fall Fest and Salt and Acres (Saturday), and had a family brunch on Sunday. She's feeling more and more like herself as each day goes by and getting back to the things she loves. There are days that are emotionally harder than others, and seem to come out of nowhere, but she leans into her community both locally and afar, to help her.
Today, she had another follow-up appointment at CU Anschutz prior to the start of treatment next Monday, October 6.
First, the good news!
She continues to hit 3/3 benchmarks: age (young medically, and just young unless you ask her 9 year old ;), healthy (on a scale of 0-100, with 100 being healthy, she's a 100), and amount of tumor removed (total resection of visible tumor).
And the news we were waiting for but didn't want to hear: it's officially Grade 4 Glioblastoma. They are still waiting for specific tumor mutations, but at least they 100% know what they're up against.
Treatment plan is 6 weeks of oral chemotherapy and targeted radiation M-F beginning 10/6. During that time, since the radiation builds on itself, side effects will do the same. So the further she gets into treatment, the more she'll feel them. However, she has no restrictions other than listening to her body. She should remain active (cognitively, physically, and socially), gets lots of sleep, eat balanced meals, and hydrate a ton.
After the 6 weeks, she'll take a 4 week break (with side effects tapering off throughout that time), followed by another 6 months of oral chemo. That round will be 5 days on and 23 days off, with use of an Optune Device during that time too.
So what are their needs now: support for medical bills (yes, they have insurance but the bills have started to come in with many more to go) as well as meals, especially during the course of the radiation/chemotherapy treatment. Thank you to those who have donated so far and/or brought a meal or volunteered in a different way. Please think about if you can provide another meal in the coming weeks.
Since the last update, Dana attended the local high school's homecoming parade (Friday), walked 3 miles in the Colorado Brain Tumor Walk and went to the Fall Fest and Salt and Acres (Saturday), and had a family brunch on Sunday. She's feeling more and more like herself as each day goes by and getting back to the things she loves. There are days that are emotionally harder than others, and seem to come out of nowhere, but she leans into her community both locally and afar, to help her.
Today, she had another follow-up appointment at CU Anschutz prior to the start of treatment next Monday, October 6.
First, the good news!
She continues to hit 3/3 benchmarks: age (young medically, and just young unless you ask her 9 year old ;), healthy (on a scale of 0-100, with 100 being healthy, she's a 100), and amount of tumor removed (total resection of visible tumor).
And the news we were waiting for but didn't want to hear: it's officially Grade 4 Glioblastoma. They are still waiting for specific tumor mutations, but at least they 100% know what they're up against.
Treatment plan is 6 weeks of oral chemotherapy and targeted radiation M-F beginning 10/6. During that time, since the radiation builds on itself, side effects will do the same. So the further she gets into treatment, the more she'll feel them. However, she has no restrictions other than listening to her body. She should remain active (cognitively, physically, and socially), gets lots of sleep, eat balanced meals, and hydrate a ton.
After the 6 weeks, she'll take a 4 week break (with side effects tapering off throughout that time), followed by another 6 months of oral chemo. That round will be 5 days on and 23 days off, with use of an Optune Device during that time too.
So what are their needs now: support for medical bills (yes, they have insurance but the bills have started to come in with many more to go) as well as meals, especially during the course of the radiation/chemotherapy treatment. Thank you to those who have donated so far and/or brought a meal or volunteered in a different way. Please think about if you can provide another meal in the coming weeks.
Comments
David Green