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A bit of guidance please

PdP
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Hi all

I feel like a bit of an impostor as my tumour is benign, so I fully realise I am luckier than many on this forum.

A quick bit of background: 3 years ago I was diagnosed with a brain tumour when I suddenly started losing sight in one eye. Within a few days, I was in surgery and science worked its magic.Recovery was long but everything seemed great and life was almost back to normal.

Two days ago I had some bad news that the little bas*£%d was growing back.

I have been given two options:

- more surgery (not quite as invasive as last time) followed by eventual radiotherapy

OR

- radiotherapy with the hope to stop the growth

My questions are:

- What is the worst thing about radiotherapy?

- Does anyone have experience of this in the brain area? The surgean told me that there will likely be long term effects but he can't quite say what, just that it will affect my brain function.

He also warned me that as I am still quite young (I'm 42, flattery eh!) the effects will be a bit worse as they really kick in after about 20 years.

 

Basically, anyone that has had something similar, please let me know, what did you do and what would you do differently if you had the opportunity.

 

Thanks in advance :)

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    Hi PdP,

    I see that this is your first post on the forum, so a very warm welcome to Cancer Chat. You are in no way an imposter. It sounds as if you have exactly the same concern as some of our friends with malignant lesions have, so please don't in any way feel 'out of place'.

    I am sorry to hear about the regrowth. Has the new tumour been checked to see if it is still benign?  Sadly, none of us have a crystal ball, so it is difficult to predict what is the best way forward. Why not draw up a list of questions for your consultant? Take this with you and make sure that you ask all the questions on your list. I always bring my hubby along to my appointments. He comes armed with a duplicate list and, he writes down the answers as I ask the consultant the questions. Your surgeon won’t  bat an eyelid at this, as many of us do this.

    If you want to find out more about radiotherapy and brain surgery, why not use the search engine on the blue banner at the top of this page? If you pop in your key words and click, this will bring up previous posts on the topic. There are almost 8,000 posts, so be prepared for a long read! Most of us on this site are cancer patients ourselves. We are not medics. You might also find it useful to talk to the nurses on this site. You can phone them free of charge from a UK landline any weekday. Their number is 0808 800 4040.

    Please keep in contact and let us know how you get on. I hope that it is better news for you then.

    We are always here for you whenever you feel like talking.

    Kind regards,

    Jolamine

  • Offline in reply to Jolamine

    Thank you Jolamine

    I'll get searching and reading :)

    Also, I'll give the nurses a bell.

    Thanks again

    Pete

  • Offline in reply to PdP

     

    Hi Pete,

    I hope that you find some of this helpful.

    The people in the best position to give you the advantages and disadvantages of radiotherapy are proably your own care team. They have your medical history and know you better than any stranger. Have you asked your surgeon for his opinion. If you were his son, would he still advocate this as the best way forward for you?

    I hope that you get the right advice.

    Kind regards,

    Jolamine

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