Confused about options for mum. She's been diagnosed with a glioblastoma and been given 3 -6 months

My mum has been diagnosed with a glioblastoma. She is almost 70 and the symptoms came on rapidly.  The consultant said he does not recommend doing a biopsy due to the location of the tumour and doesn’t feel treatment would give her more than an additional 3 months beyond the 3-6 months he has given as life expectancy.  Does this sound reasonable?  I don’t want her to undergo  pointless treatment that would diminish the quality of life she has left however if there are options that haven’t been offered we would want to consider them. At present she is being offered medication to mange the symptoms 

  • Hello Poppin,

    I am so sorry your mum has been diagnosed with this. My dad was diagnosed in November '23 and passed away April '24, aged 82. Originally he was offered radiation but  deteriorated too quickly for this to proceed so was on steroids to manage the swelling in the brain.

    I was advised if he did have radiation, it would only have given him an extra 3 months, 6 months absolute max. 

    Mentally he didn't really deteriorate, would just get confused at times. It did affect his mobility and he did require 24 hour care. He wasn't in pain but got frustrated as he became less mobile and independent. He was very active before this and looked much younger than he was.

    He received 24 hour care free of charge because of his terminal diagnoses., it is not means tested. This was arranged by Macmillan. I did not realise this was available and thought we would have to pay. 

    It is such a horrible situation to be in, and your mum is still young. Unfortunately life expectancy with this diagnosis is very short, I would concentrate on enjoying the time you have left.

    Best wishes, Jane.