Brain Mets

[ztweb]

What signs did you or your loved one have before diagnosed with brain mets?

Jen

[mary colleen]

Jen,

My husband had a single brain met in April - a roughly 3 cm tumor in his occipital lobe. I felt that he had one before diagnosis, so the symptoms must have been pretty overt. Symptoms:

1. Visual disturbances - since his tumor was in the occipital lobe, he had intermittent visual distortions.

2. Memory/cognitive lapses - just one that I was aware of, but it was a pretty big one. Forgot what car he had driven to Wal Mart (mine) and reported his stolen when he couldn't locate his vehicle.

All of these symptoms manisfested pretty rapidly - no more than 2 weeks from first symptom to diagnosis and surgery.

Some people also have headaches, nausea, gait problems or other symptoms. Some people are symptomless.

Hope this helps.

[wondermom]

When my mom was diagnosed she had 2 brain mets. She didn't really have any symptoms for those. The one that followed was in her occipital lobe and she was having flashers in the corners of her eyes. She would also get kind of shaky.

[alexan]

Dear Jen, I did not have any symptoms, so for me was a sourprise.

hugs & best wishes bucky

[ErinC1973]

Well, for my dad, it went like this:

One Saturday DH and I went to my parents' house. My dad and DH went to my parents' cottage about two hours away, because he was mowing the lawn for my dad while he was in chemo. DH said that my dad drove, and one time he went through a stoplight, but DH didn't think much of it. When they came home, dad went to take a nap (totally normal). When DH and I were getting ready to leave, my mom went in to wake him up to say goodbye. He came out into the living room, and while we were standing there, he was very quiet, smiling but looking around like he was lost. I remember looking at him, thinking, "God, I hope..."

The next morning, my mom called. She said she had called an ambulance because when she woke up, my dad was not in bed. She got up, and walked all over the house before she finally spotted him outside on the front lawn, urinating. She yelled at him to come in the house. When he came in, she said, "What on earth were you DOING?" He said, "I couldn't find the toilet." Right after the ambulance took him, she was gathering her things in the kitchen to go to the hospital, and she eyed a puddle on the floor by the stove. She opened the oven door, and he had urinated all inside the oven. That day he had a CT scan which told us what we already knew.

But...looking back on it, my dad was VERY secretive throughout his treatment. For instance, he never told my mom that he was NOT supposed to be driving while on chemo. So he may very well have had other symptoms, which he just kept from all of us. Sadly, I can't even talk to my mom about it now.

[laban]

Jen,

That is a very good question and I think about it alot. I look for symptoms all the time. It's a terrible way to live and even thought Bill had PCI, I still wonder. Thank you for posting this question. Hope your Dad is doing well. Blessings to you Jen, I know you're worrying.

[Nick C]

My mom's handwriting went, and her left leg started to drag.

She also told me she could see the left side of her face looked slightly different.

I thought they were mini stroke like symptoms.