Headache

By Terry Cornford

MALIGNANT TUMOUR, Brain Surgery – it only happens to other people or in the movies – NOT SO!
My name is Terry James Cornford, a 60 year old average Australian bloke and I’ve got a tale to tell.
This book is my account of what it is like to be that ‘other person’

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris AU
• Release date: Jun 21, 2020
• ISBN: 9781984506368

Book preview

Copyright © 2020 by Terry Cornford.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Rev. date: 06/18/2020

Xlibris

AU TFN: 1 800 844 927 (Toll Free inside Australia)

AU Local: 0283 108 187 ([phone] from outside Australia)

www.Xlibris.com.au

811501

CONTENTS

Acknowledgements

Introduction

PART 1

I         Headaches In Spades!

II       Days Of Sleep

III      Is There Something In My MRI?

IV      Confirmed!

V       Attitude

VI      Not What You Want To Hear

VII    Sensory Overload

VIII   Life At Home With The Two Big C’S

IX      Countdown To Chemo

X        Into The (Chemo/Radiation) Fray!

PART 2

I         Into The (Chemo/Radiation) ‘Fray’

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to thank my wife (Always my number 1)Leanne for her putting up with all my eccentricities, a task in itself!

Leanne’s sisters Corrine and Nadine, my mother in law Joan and deceased father in law Neil, who, unfortunately was another victim of the big ‘C’ (see you on the flipside Neil!).

Thanks also to my mother who is no stranger to misfortune herself but who is always offering her help when times got tough.

Thanks also to my three sons: Adam, Daniel and Trent for their input to alleviate my current circumstances. Cheers!

Speaking of Cheers… Cheers to my best mate Shane Dallison! And a special mention to Julie Fynemore for her incredible typing skills !

INTRODUCTION

GLIOBLASTOMA – GRADE 4, sounds like something out of a Sci-Fi movie, it’s not! What it is though is definitely not fiction and certainly not entertainment – it’s brain cancer.

I was diagnosed with a possible tumour, or at least a possible brain infection, at my first MRI scan on 3 March 2020. The tumour (as it turned out to be) wasn’t officially identified as a Glioblastoma – grade 4 until 11 March 2020.

I had undergone cranial surgery in between those two dates (5 March 2020 to be exact) so giving the damn thing a name was purely academic; the implications of such an aggressive tumour, less so. The prognosis as presented by that well known internet search engine… Dr G gave 12-18 months. I fully intend on extending those figures indefinitely!

If there is one thing that I could offer any reader of this book who may be facing a similar cancer to mine or indeed, any other cancer, in all its form, is this –

ADOPT A POSITIVE ATTITUDE FROM THE OUTSET!

I cannot stress that point enough! It will be what gets me through as I deal with this challenge and it will be the best thing you do towards healing yourself!

– YOU MUST STAY POSITIVE! –

Please note that this book is offered in a Part 1 – Part 2 format. Two stand alone books in one!

Part 1 is in a ‘Descriptive Writing’ style relating the story of how I came to be in the situation I now find myself in.

Part 2 is in a ‘Narrative’ style specifically concerned with relating a day by day journal or sorts giving the reader an insight as to what it’s like to go through the chemo/radiation regimen.

38232.png

PART 1

38235.png

I

HEADACHES IN SPADES!

38240.png

Don’t forget the exit

Don’t forget the exit

You missed the exit! ……

In hindsight, that should have been the first of many indicators that something was not quite right.

I was at the wheel driving home with my co-worker Mick B. Mick travels with me five days a week to and from our place of work with a fibreglass pool manufacturer in a NSW Southern