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It's Mara
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The Story
Hi Folks! Here's the story straight from the horse's mouth:
August 29 I stumbled over a word. It wasn't a big deal but I noticed. Then on Thursday night (August 30) David and I left on a fabulous long weekend in Syria. Friday we left Damascus for Palmyra. It was really hot. That day I stumbled over a couple words too -- it stood out to me since I never do that....
Saturday we walked all over Palmyra and I was really suffering from heat, or so I thought. I felt like I was making lots of mistakes in my speech -- but David didn't notice. Then I noticed that I had a small numb spot on my scalp behind my right ear. Strange, strange, strange. On Sunday, back in Damascus, the speech got worse (comegranite instread of pomegranite, etc.). By the end of the day I really felt like I was having trouble simply getting sentences out that were in my head. I couldn't make small talk with strangers (imagine that for me!) -- it was stressfull.
When I got home Sunday night I wrote my melanoma oncologist and he said I should immediately get an MRI. So Monday morning by 8:30 AM our fabulous health unit in Amman had me in a an MRI machine. By 9:30 I was out and found that I had metastatic cancer lesions (tumors) on multiple sites in my brain. Most notably, a frontal left lobe that deals with oral expression (the largest at about 1.8 cm). I also have one on the base of my brain where it connects to the spine, which may or may not have to do with the scalp numbness.
So -- Monday was a fabulous day in the hospital in Amman where practically everyone I have worked or played with in the past year came to visit -- it was a big party! By the next morning I was on a plane back to New York, accompanied by the Embassy's excellent doctor -- Curt Hofer. Tuesday night we arrived in New York and took a taxi directly to the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center hospital where we met my mother and oncologist. The past week in New York has blown by with tests and doctors and museums. David arrived from Amman on Sunday, September 9, and is going to be able to spend a month in the States (actually, we had a vacation planned now...).
So -- that's the beef. No headaches. No stroke-like symptoms. Just speech problems. In the last week the numbness on the right side of my head has covered my ear, jaw and moved down my neck and right arm. But as you will see from the blog -- treatment has begun so I hope it will all get better soon.
The plan: three weeks of full brain radiation (with weekends off). That is about all I know. There will be a plan afterward but we have to wait and see what this does before we decide. I still have a number of melanoma "freckles" on the skin of my chest -- so those have to be dealt with. I will keep you all updated regularly through this site!
August 29 I stumbled over a word. It wasn't a big deal but I noticed. Then on Thursday night (August 30) David and I left on a fabulous long weekend in Syria. Friday we left Damascus for Palmyra. It was really hot. That day I stumbled over a couple words too -- it stood out to me since I never do that....
Saturday we walked all over Palmyra and I was really suffering from heat, or so I thought. I felt like I was making lots of mistakes in my speech -- but David didn't notice. Then I noticed that I had a small numb spot on my scalp behind my right ear. Strange, strange, strange. On Sunday, back in Damascus, the speech got worse (comegranite instread of pomegranite, etc.). By the end of the day I really felt like I was having trouble simply getting sentences out that were in my head. I couldn't make small talk with strangers (imagine that for me!) -- it was stressfull.
When I got home Sunday night I wrote my melanoma oncologist and he said I should immediately get an MRI. So Monday morning by 8:30 AM our fabulous health unit in Amman had me in a an MRI machine. By 9:30 I was out and found that I had metastatic cancer lesions (tumors) on multiple sites in my brain. Most notably, a frontal left lobe that deals with oral expression (the largest at about 1.8 cm). I also have one on the base of my brain where it connects to the spine, which may or may not have to do with the scalp numbness.
So -- Monday was a fabulous day in the hospital in Amman where practically everyone I have worked or played with in the past year came to visit -- it was a big party! By the next morning I was on a plane back to New York, accompanied by the Embassy's excellent doctor -- Curt Hofer. Tuesday night we arrived in New York and took a taxi directly to the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center hospital where we met my mother and oncologist. The past week in New York has blown by with tests and doctors and museums. David arrived from Amman on Sunday, September 9, and is going to be able to spend a month in the States (actually, we had a vacation planned now...).
So -- that's the beef. No headaches. No stroke-like symptoms. Just speech problems. In the last week the numbness on the right side of my head has covered my ear, jaw and moved down my neck and right arm. But as you will see from the blog -- treatment has begun so I hope it will all get better soon.
The plan: three weeks of full brain radiation (with weekends off). That is about all I know. There will be a plan afterward but we have to wait and see what this does before we decide. I still have a number of melanoma "freckles" on the skin of my chest -- so those have to be dealt with. I will keep you all updated regularly through this site!
11 comments:
mara, so lovely to see the pictures of you smiling. your bravery and your willingness to confront the world with things to re-learn, including the handshake, are so commendable. we live in awe of your courage and are praying everyday for your swift recovery. please know that we are with you always. xo, kristina (still, sigh, in pristina)
Well, this is the scarriest (and most scaring)scar I've ever seen....Mara!! What a stunner !!!!
Once, there was an interview with a woman with the same ornament, who got hailed in the New York streets by a punker, ( these were the eighties) who asked where she'd "had it done" and could he get the address??? She named a hospital... I think this was on Oprah some years ago...
Anyway: "" A scar of beauty is a joy for ever " like (???)(Keats??) once wrote...
It's kind of weird to be the first blogger, by the way.
That slightly crooked smile-around-the-scar of yours, Mara, makes my day (or rather sleep, now).Thank you! And also thank you David, for getting that tiny cable to get us in touch.
Indeed, no text needed.
Dag, both of you, and Mara's family ,and you, soon-blogging-bloggies.
Big (impressed) hug, love, Ems
No first!
Kristina beat me by 6 minutes...
Hi there!!!
doei ems
Mara, you are beautiful, my love, so beautiful! Looks (from that pretty scar!)the surgeon did a very good job - no puffing, no flows! Lovely. And, above all, there comes out your smile! As if nothing, NOTHING at all, has happened!!!
I love you tremendously, darling Mara!
David, you could make a professional photographer! Give it a thought!:)
Hugs and kisses,
Zlatna
Ems, we seem to have been writing at the same time, which tells me I'd suck in competing, so I should never apply in for a Marathon, for example!
Hugs to you,
Zlatna
mara it is so wonderful to see you smiling. I agree with ems that the scar is scary. But I am once more awed by the things the medical profession can do to us and we (or you) come out kicking. And how amazing it is to be living in a century where this kind of stuff is possible.
Good luck with the patience you must need to relearn everything again.
Hugs and much much much love
Anna
Wow. What a lot of iron. What an artistic line the staples trace. What a beautifully shaped skull they lie on. What a brave & lovely woman with an almost Mona Lisa smile, beneath all that iron. Such were my thoughts as these photos appeared on my screen.
And, I thought, don't let the piercing generation see this--they might get new ideas for the tattoo parlor.
My cousin Betsy just dropped by to leave me with a gift for you. She knows all about you and felt you needed what she's sending; it's the relevant volume from the Zohar, in miniature, all about healing & protection. So on it goes to Claudia, with a new round of love and admiration...
THAT's where my stapler went!
Mara,
I get the feeling that all your histories are somehow combining in this, your most recent life chapter. The arm burn in the shape of an evil eye honors your travels to mystic lands. The chance encounter with an Uzbek manicurist is an homage to your travels through post-communism. And the structure and shape of the neurosurgery scar resembles a high minded, post-industrial German art installation. Yes, my dear, your scalp is now an homage to your time as a Bosch Fellow and your love of modern clean lines in art and architecture. It's quite stunning, actually, in the photos.
It is as though your body has become this incredible canvas, a potent and poetic statement of your journey, filled with pain but also joy and strength. Love, LizMcK
I have to agree with Liz -- I think I saw a building in Berlin last month based on the same architectural premise as your scar....those Berliners are SO trendy!
L
Hey, Mara! This is Chris pretending writing under Luke's ID. I'm still dreaming about you, and you're still smiling in my dreams. It's lovely to wake up every morning and check your blog to see that the nocturnal telepathy is working. I think it's all a good sign.
My 10-yr-old son's reaction to these pix? "COOOOOLLL!! ADTK
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