Last updated: 11/6/2002
My name is Eric McLaughlin and I have a master’s degree in Speech and Hearing Sciences. I work as an Audiologist in a Private practice.
In April 2000 my daughter had just turned 1 years old, and my wife and I had just celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary. One day after our wedding anniversary and only a few days after returning from a trip, I had a Grand Mal seizure in the middle of the night. My wife woke up to the sound of me struggling to breathe and did not know what to do! See called 911 and they helped her to get me breathing. I had never had a seizure before and this came as a great shock! She thought I was dying! I woke up in the hospital to find my parents there along with my wife and daughter. They told me I had a seizure. After a quick neurological exam I was given a CT that found a large mass in my right frontal lobe. This was then followed by MRI scans of my brain and my entire body.
The doctors did not come right out and say it was a tumor, they called it a lesion or a mass. But I knew what that means. I was given three options, 1. Do nothing. 2. Have a biopsy done. 3. Have it removed and then see what it is. My doctors and my entire family all agreed that #3 was the best option.
Since I live in a small town and my choice of surgeons was limited to one, the decision was made to go to the University of Washington where they had much more experienced neurosurgeons.
On May the 2nd of 2000 Dr. Silbergeld and his team removed the large tumor from my right frontal lobe. It was about the size of an egg. About a week later we received word that the tumor was an oligodendroglioma. They recommended that I start radiation therapy right away. Luckily, my hometown has a nice modern cancer treatment center and I was able to have my treatments done there. The DR’s at UW also asked me to take part in a national clinical trial. The study was to see if PCV chemotherapy immediately after radiation therapy would have a greater effect at delaying reoccurrence of the tumor. I was interested in helping medical science but I was worried about taking part in a totally randomized trial. I would not be given a choice as to chemo or no chemo. A computer would assign me a number and choose for me. I’m all for helping medical science but I also want to decide for myself what to do. After much deliberating and talking with my family I decided that I could not live with myself if I didn’t do everything I could now to stop it from recurring. That way if it does come back I will never have to second-guess myself.
My radiation therapy began in June 2000 and was five days a week for 6 weeks. I believe this to be a standard amount. The first few weeks of radiation were no problem, but the last few took a lot out of me. Not only did my hair fall out, but also I got very ill and had a 104-degree fever. My doctors were worried I had caught meningitis. I was so sick and dizzy the only thing I could do for a month was lay in bed and be taken to my radiation therapy everyday.
In August 2000 I began PCV chemotherapy. It consists of taking CCNU on day one of the cycle. On day 8 I received an IV push of Vincristine and started taking Procarbazine. I found out very early that Zofran was the only medicine that would stop me from being nauseous. It’s worth its weight in gold! I would take the procarbazine for three weeks and than would receive another Vincristine Infusion. They give you a few weeks off after that. This is repeated for 6 cycles. My chemo ended in July 2001.
There are dietary restrictions while on procarbazine which are not too bothersome, but man do you begin to miss cheese! I passed through the chemo pretty well. I only got sick a few times but it was for short periods of time. My white blood cell count and absolute neutrofil count was extremely low many times. This is a side effect of the CCNU. I was able to give myself Neupogen injections to raise the white blood cell count up. This was a tremendous help and they only had to delay my chemo a few times. Other side effects were constipation or diarrhea, not to mention being exhausted and feeling cold all the time.
October 5th 2001, I had my first post chemotherapy MRI. Everything looks good! There is no sign of recurrence of the tumor and the edema in my brain from the surgery and radiation continue to go down. My white blood cell count is still low and as a result I have had a hard time shaking a sinus infection that started in September. I also broke out in shingles because of the continued low count as well. My oncologist assures me that CCNU causes this for up to 6 months after taking it.
I tried to continue to work as much as possible through all of this, and I hope life will return to normal very soon!
Update on 5/19/02
Basically, after about four months after we submitted his story, he had another seizure and we learned the tumor had recurred. He had a 2nd craniotomy in December of 2001 and Gliadel Wafers were placed in the tumor bed. The pathology report came back Glioblastoma Multiform Grade 4, so the tumor had progressed in malignancy. He experienced lots of brain swelling in January and by February he had lost some of his periferal vision. We learned the tumor had recurred again at about the beginning of February. His surgeon at Univ. of WA didn't recommend a 3rd surgery, so we looked elsewhere and ended up taking him to Cedars-Sinai in L.A., California where Dr. Keith Black performed the 3rd craniotomy. It was a good resection and Eric was entered into one of their immunotherapy clinical trials. On April 22, 2002, one day prior to beginning the immunotherapy, an MRI showed a recurrance of the tumor again. Eric was not able to do the immunotherapy and was told there could be no more surgeries. He was placed on Temodar and Accutane. He is currently "stable" now. He takes 16 mg of decadron a day and has some minor deficits. He is not currently working.
Update: July 18, 2002
Eric's latest MRI was done on June 24, 2002. His oncologist in Kennewick as well as his doctors at Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles agree that there is definitely no growth and that the the MRI looks better than before. The combination of Temodar and Accutane is working!
Eric was hospitalized a couple of weeks ago because he has a pulmonary embolism. We knew something was wrong because his heart was beating rapidly and he was out of breath. He now takes blood thinners and is home and doing just fine. We wanted to share this news to raise awareness of blood clots.
Eric celebrated his 30th birthday on June 15th. Back in January, one of his doctors gave him 6 weeks to 3 months to live. Well, it has been over 6 months since we saw that doctor, and Eric is doing better now than he was in January.
I am so proud of Eric's courage and his will to live. He has never given up the fight against this cancer. There has been many ups and downs, and we are happy to be celebrating lots of "ups" right now!
Update: 9/13/2002
The results are in! Eric just had another MRI and we found out today that his tumor is smaller. Before, there were some miscellaneous spots around his tumor, and they are now GONE! The doctors at Cedars-Sinai did not have the exact measurements, but say the tumor appears smaller as well.
Eric is still on Temodar and Accutane, and he takes 12 mg. of Melatonin nightly. He's been riding his bicycle off and on, and enjoying watching our daughter toddle off to preschool as she grins from ear to ear.
Break out the champagne! It's time to celebrate!
Update: 11/26/2002
Eric passed away on November 26th.
