Glioblastoma Grade Iv

Hi guys
Im new to this message board I was just searching the web my grandmother is 81 years old and was diagnosised about 8 weeks ago and she opted not to have sugery. This thing has doubled in size in two weeks. She is now on hospice and is being made comfortable. She has alot of seizures in the last week and is not very responsive. Up until January 10th she was still driving, working and running around and now nothing. It so hard to see just a big change. She chose not to have the surgery because of the Chemo she didnt want to suffer and be sick when it may have only given her maybe another 6months to live. When they first diagnosised her they said she had 9-12 months to live then she was hospitalized and then it was 5 months then last week they said 1-2 weeks. This has been very tramatic for me and my family. Best of luck to you guys who can fight it. Its worth it.


Thanks for listening
Cindy

Cindy...sorry to hear about your Grandmother. You will be in my heart and prayers. Thank you for being there for her and respecting her choices.

Hi Cindy,
I too am new to this message board. My Dad has just been diagnosed with a grade 4 glioblastoma and I am devasted with this news. Is there anyone out there in a similar situation that can offer me some hope????? Surgery is not an option, they are talking about radiation therapy but we are not sure yet. Help!

Lally...we will be thinking of you and your family...you have an interesting road to travel and if we can be of help just come "aboard".
what is your dad's age? I am 59 and have the same problem...no surgery. But i have lived a good life for the past year now and am doing fine thus far.
the radiation therapy is pretty standard. Most of all of us went thru the 35 or so treatments...the medication (Temodar) has kept me stable for the year and the last MRI i had on feb 20 showed some reduction.
keep a great attitude, and help him to keep one also...love him dearly and let know he is loved.
Thank you for being there for him.

Thanks so much Gene, thanks a million for taking the time to e-mail me. It's great to hear that you are doing so well, it gives me great hope.
We are a very close family and this has really hit us hard. My Dad means the world to me and I love him so much. He is a just a little older than you, 63 and has perfect health except for the tumour of course. He is a strong man and has a very postive attitude and he'll fight this as best he can. We are still waiting for an appointment with the specialists, but they did mention radiation treatment. Can you tell me of your experience with this type of treatment? Everything is so alien to us, it would be great to know what to expect.
Thanks again for your response, it's a great boost for me. Best of luck,
Lally

Lally...good to hear from you. Glad your family is so close and dad is a fighter. I think attitude is a major factor in having a good quality of life during this time and i believe it also extends ones life.

Go to www.braintumor.org and it will leave your email address and i will write to you direct instead of boring all these folks with my story. This web site serves a great purpose but it censors your email...takes out any emmail addresses and personal info.

i'll bet they've heard it many times.
THANX

I would suggest, since your father is not a candidate for surgery that he look into radio-static surgery, done with a gamma knife, it's not actually surgery as it does not affect good tissue around the tumor bed.
Good luck to him, I've had my GBM since last July.

Gene P

My sister, age 55, was diagnosed on may 10th with glioblastoma multiforme. no symptoms, other than an ocassional headache,but who doesnt have those. she has 4 tumors all inoperable. she has started radiation and chemo (temodar). only has 9 more radiations left. she is scheduled for mri on aug 9. her personality has changed, she giggles a lot and asks the same questions over and over, this is starting to get better.she also takes decadron--they are slowly cutting her dose on this. will she return to her self? or is this part of the cancer/tumors? any info you can give will be greatly appreciated. she is my best friend and i miss her. thanks pam

Hey Pamela, hope you had a good July 4th under the circumstances.

I think the chemo makes the personality changes. I was on a clinical trial one time and people around me, couldn't stand me! It was all the medication we must take.

The temodar doesn't effect me that way but we all react to them differently.

I'm completely "drug free" and July 7th will be my 17 month anniversary. I feel I'm almost 100% the person I was. She will more than likely
get back to her "old self" when the medication is being cut.