All hail the mighty dex !

Three nights of dex and there is some noticeable improvement.

"dex" is (I think, dexamethasone. I can't be bothered reading the label so if that sounds like an illegal drug then I am taking the purely legal dex-something else.

Dex is a steroid. It reduces swelling such as caused by bruising. In my case, swelling round the bit of dead brain. The swelling is -- to my understanding -- pushing into a bit of my brain that processes vision. Reduce the swelling and vision can return to normal.

It's just a few days but already there is improvement in my vision. On Friday Deb did the finger-wiggling thing, then again today. Some of my left peripheral vision is restored. Phew :-)

In an even less formal measure: most of my typing is hitting the correct keys.

Of course the magic dex does have a side-effect. So I take anti-dex (no, I'm not at all interested in its real name) so that the dex doesn't make me chunder. Then the anti-dex... oh joy, my least favourite side-effect: constipation.

But I'm ready for this. There's a powder to be mixed in water then drunk. Harmless, just with the consistency of snot :-(

How long does this powder take to work? Last time I used it, I gave up waiting and took a second dose. The effect was... very definite. This time I wait. Just over two hours for good enough relief. Essential knowledge, for next time :-)

So it's dex and anti-dex... and probably anti-anti-dex... for a week. Then speak with the cancer doc. If my vision continues to improve, the brain surgeon may leave his scalpels at home. For a bit longer anyway :-)

I'm not too worried about more brain surgery, I just sleep through it. Deb is far more worried, so I had better continue to improve... Practice my wiggling-finger-spotting skills.

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Oh, and here are some big words that I just need to brag with:

MRI perfusion and homonymous hemianopia 

That first (okay, they are phrases rather than words), the first means that I was scanned with more than a straight MRI. The perfusion adds to the value of the image. So I understand from the little that the doc explained.

I read up on MRI perfusion in Wikipedia. I'm not going to even try to re-read it... From memory -- of my vague understanding... the perfusion is something extra added to my blood while the MRI is scanning. The extra may not make for a clearer picture. Rather, it takes a picture of something other than just brain and (possible) tumour. One perfusion may show blood flow through the cells.

This what I actually learnt: The cancer doc is not an expert in MRI. Nor, probably, an expert in perfusion. Nor is she an expert on the brain. She is an expert on cancer -- an expert who knows how to apply all that other stuff, to cancer. Which, strangely enough, makes me feel a lot better.

And the other phrase: "homonymous hemianopia". Break that down, apply it to my vision -- lost left peripheral vision it both eyes. The phrase is fancy-talk for, both eyes have the same loss of half vision. and it's caused by damage (necrosis? or just swelling?) on just that bit of brain, see, there!, just that bit where I have necrosis and swelling.

All that may not make sense. It may not be accurate. But it suits me. an makes me feel a whole lot better :-)

Dr Nick Lethbridge / Consulting Dexitroboper

...        Agamedes Consulting / Problems ? Solved

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"Failure is not an option. It's a lifestyle." ... per Ginger Meggs

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Dying for you to read my blog, at https://notdotdeaddotyet.blogspot.com/ :-)