Cancer found in brain

[karlakay]

My darling husband of 26 years who has been battling this disease since Aug 06 found out yesterday evening that he has a large mass in his head along with several other lesions. We don't know all the details yet - will find that out today. I don't even know why I'm writing except that it's early in the morning and no one else is awake and I had to talk to someone.

About 3 weeks ago, he started having headaches in the same part of his head and this past week, he started showing signs of confusion. He also started having difficulty walking. I brought him to the hospital a week ago yesterday and he was diagnosed with bacterial pneumonia. They did a cat scan of his head upon admission and said it was clear. As the week progressed, his pneumonai got better but his confusion, inability to stay awake (he's been sleeping about 22 hours a day) and his difficulty in walking led me to believe there was still something else going on. After practically throwing a fit with the docs, I convinced them yesterday to do a head MRI and lo and behold, they found our problem.

The doctors are supposed to come in this morning to talk with us at length but I think our plan is to go home. He's very weak and I can't imagine he could endure any more treatment and his performance status now has to be in the negative numbers.

I'd like to hear from anyone else who has experienced this as we continue this journey.

[shineladysue]

I have no experience with this , but many here have had brain mets. As you learn more or have specific questions, I hope they can help you. In the meantime, I want you to know that I will be praying for your husband and for you.

Sue

[SandraL]

Hi there. I am sorry to hear about these latest difficulties. I can't answer your questions but there are others here, and others that I know, that have dealt with brain mets. I am hopeful your discussions with the doctors will give you some options. My thoughts and prayers are with you and your husband

[peebygeeby]

Hi Karla,

I'm sorry to hear about this.

My thoughts are with you, I hope things will turn around for you and your husband.

All the best,

Gail

[lc46]

Hi-my Mom had a brain met that they found last May by accident-she was admitted to the ER for severe esophagus burn and they did the mri of the brain-they caught it early but she did get 3 weeks of whole brain radiation and she had really no side effects-I'm sure your Dr will recommend it-it's not hard on the patient-hair loss, fatigue - but much less severe effects than getting radiation/chemo to other parts of the body.Hope that

helps some...

Take Care

Dar

[missyk]

Hi karlakay...

My mother battled brain mets for the entire time she battled the disease as a whole. I remember, vividly, how terrifying the words were the first time we heard them and I'm sending much love and comfort to you and your husband.

There are many options for treatment of brain mets now-a-days compared to even 10 years ago. As you find out more from the dr's we'll be better able to help you along but the main types of treatment are 1)surgery 2) whole brain radiatin (WBR) or 3) some form of stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS...cyberknife, et al)

In my mom's experience she did mostly SRS treatments and they worked wonderfully for her.

Please keep us informed as you form a treatment plan and let us know how things are going.

[Janet B]

HI

I am so sorry to hear about this latest news.

I had mets to the pons of my brain and I went through stereotactic radiation for 6 weeks in the winter of '07 with few if any side effects. I am now NED.

I will be praying for your husband that whatever treatment plan is chosen for him, he gets the same good results.

Peace - Janet