On 1/2/2007 Imahappyone wrote:
On 1/19/2006 Maria345 wrote:
In April of 2005, I had a grade 3 aniplastic astrocytoma removed by having a crainiotomy. I went through 30 treatments of radiation and I'm finishing up my year of chemo (Temodar). Lately I've been noticing that my bone flap has been causing me a great deal of pain. If you feel where it was put together, you can almost feel the screws or posts coming out. I've been in pain from that site and in the back of my head where the radiation rays came out. Is anyone else experiencing this?
Hi Imahappyone....My tumor was located in the right frontal lobe and was 2cm/2cm. They did a TOTAL RESECTION, which means that they removed it all and some surronding tissue. They offered to do a biopsy and watch the tumor, but, my husband and I discussed that they should just remove it. I didn't want anything growing in my brain. I never experienced seizures, but I knew that if I let it go, i would eventually start having them. I had a four month old at home and didn't want to put him in any kind of danger.
Now, I am almost two years from surgery, and things are great. I am off seizure medication and all chemo. I go for MRI's every three months to make sure there is no recurrance. I have been getting great reports from the surgeon and my oncologists, so I have to be happy about that. Where is your husband's tumor located? Do you know the size? I think that the location, size, and the age of the patient have a lot to do with the way things go. I was 31 when I found out about my tumor, and most things you find on the Internet for this type of tumor and how long you have to live, they are not very good. My doctor told me plain and simple.....stay away from the internet. Who can really say "how long you have to live"? And who are they basing this information on? Really, it's your will to want to fight it and to live.
I tried to keep spirits high and actually looked forward to seeing my doctors and made friends with every nurse at the hospital. I was sad and felt lonely after my treatments were over. It's weird how they quickly became and part of my life. I hated going in the beginning, but, I felt that once I stopped, it may start to come back. And, it never did!!! The psychologist I was seeing told me that was normal.....so I never worried about it. I think it's very important for your husband to talk to someone....outside of talking with you. I am glad that I did, and I think that I should have done it earlier in my treatment process. I had a lot of trapped anger about my situation, and she helped me to find a way to deal with what was going on.
Hope this helps. Let me know if you have any other questions. My prayers and thoughts are with you and your husband in the New year and to a quick and speedy recovery.
Maria,
My husband has a AA III as well. Only they didn't do a craniotomy on him. They done a biopsy but was unable to remove the tumor itself. From what I gather they drilled a hole (about the size of a quarter) to do the biopsy. When asked if they were going to put anything over that hole they said no because they would likely have to go back in. He done 8 months of temodar. But, the MRI's have been showing steady shrinkage on the tumor so they decided to wait 4 months for another MRI to see if they need to start the chemo back up.
Were they able to completely remove your tumor? Where was it located and how have you been doing with the treatments?
Sorry, this isn't what your topic pertained to.
Have a good day.
Imahappyone