Prepare of the worst and hope for the best.
My dad is about 11 years older and did not go through the surgery as his tumor was deeper and about half the size. Responded well to the radition and chemo but had a recurrence in August. What they do not tell you in the hand books on this is that the treatment and side effects, swelling in the feet or blood clots or ... can successfully treat the tumor and yet the patient can get worse. Sometimes steroids or something else or even time will work and other times, the body starts to shut down because the even though the tumor is no longer growing, the insult to the body is too much. My dad had the speech problem and the odd problem with numbness and literally in days was in a wheel chair from being able to walk. The oncologist came into the room after another MRI and told us they took it to the cancer board and had every expert they could look at it because after the initial recurrence, the tumor had not grown so it was anyone's guess why he got worse and had done so quickly. With the lack of mobility and the sudden weakness plus fatigue, the clinical trial he had signed up for was no longer available and they believe further treatment will do more harm than good. So also be prepared that they may not qualify for a trial as I also learned that for most, essentially the patient has to be able to walk into that appointment. Having said that, my dad ran into the same thing in April and an adjustment of his steroids gave him 5 good months of function and ability to live at home without the need for home care. So prepare for the worst and hope and look for the best.