Loss Of Memory And Speech After Radiation?

I am once again writing with concerns about my 68-year-old dad who was diagnosed with GBM on Aug. 29, 2005. He had surgical resection that day with removal of 90% of the brain tumor. This was followed by the standard of 33 radiation treatments with 42 days of concurrent Temodar. Now, my dad is about to begin his sixth month of Temodar 280 mg next week. What I am wondering is if any one else has experienced drastic losses in memory and in speech. His MRI on March 9 showed that things are "stable to slightly improved." He is due for a follow-up MRI at the end of May. He is confident with the care he receives from his medical oncologist in Duluth, MN, and doesn't really have the endurance to travel for a second opinion. His memory losses and speech struggles have gotten significantly worse since mid-Feb. Do you have any suggestions? Thanks and Take care, Rondi

Hi I`m in Winnipeg.My Mom to is having many prob.I believe from rad.I really wish I had had more time to research rad. side effects I may have declined.My mom never really has participated in dec.so i sort of feel I failed her.She had just 12 whole brain but from what I read whole brain is not very good.Dr. Friedman at Duke will do 2nd opinions without you travelling.You just have to gather some info and Mail it.The team will look it over for a small fee and call you.Take good care,Susan

My husband, age 64, had glioblastoma in left parietal lobe operated on Dec 19 and removed; had follow up radiation with Temador. Five days after had a blood vessel bleed. Spent six weeks in rehab and is now home; memory is terrible short term and appears to be getting worse; his speech and fight for words is so sad to see. He is having physical therapy (he lost walking ability with the bleed) and speech therapy starts tomorrow. He had speech therapy after surgery and his cognitive skills were coming back. We feel that he never had the time to recover after the radiation before the bleed happened. The MRI shows the bleed is being absorbed and we don't know yet what is permanent and what isn't. He starts the 5 day (300) mg Temador tomorrow. Then waits two weeks and does it again. He tolerated it very well the first time.
There is a feeling that the radiation weakened the blood vessel..of course the whole area is weak. We did have second opinions at Dana Farber in Boston and Brigham and Women's in Boston.

It is so horrible to see him this way; sometimes we make it to 10 am before crying separately and together. He's fighting so hard and I fear he is losing the battle without the tumor even coming back.

Long days ahead for all of us who read this message board.

A recent study based on the idea that patients recieving radiation to the head displayed alzheimers like symptoms tested the use of Arisept (alzheimers med). Significant improvements were found in cognitive functioning. RT affects acetylecholine. Same is found in alzheimers patients. Arisept improves this. Our Doc was willing to prescribe and my wife is deffinitly better. He also started prescribing Ridalin. The drug of choice for college students these days. Most say they can study like crazy and have near total recall. At the very least it is a stimulant and she has more energy. Sometimes the treatment can wear you out and most of us arent at the top of our game when tired. Hope this helps. Google arisept and glioblastoma if you want something to show the Doc..

Bob

Sorry. mispelled in previous post.
Google aricept and glioblastoma.

Highly recommend "google alerts".
I get everything new as it is placed on the web containing key words or phrases.

Bob

Thank you to everyone that has responded to my post. I have some research to do before my dad sees his medical oncologist tomorow. Thank you for your support and information. Take care, Rondi

Hi my name is Sarah & I have been battling a grade iii aa since 7/04. I had weakness on my left side, speech, problems, and that horrible "not remembering your words thing". This is just my opinion because i would make major improvements overnight once i started weaning off my steroids. At my max, i was taking 24 mg of decadron a day. When i began lowering my dosage, i could do things that day that i had been able to do the night before. I guess i should have asked this first - is your dad on steroids?

Dear Sarah,
It was good to hear from you. My dad does take decadron. He has been weaned to 1 mg/day and the dose was increased to 2 mg/day. We thought that this would help a little ... hasn't made any changes. He was experiencing more headaches and pressure so the increased dose has helped with those symptomes. I congratulate you on being a true survivor. I remember you responding to a post I wrote a few months ago ... I know that you are enjoying your beautiful daughter. Children grow so quickly and learn so much so fast. They are truly a blessing. Take care. Rondi