My dad is battling GBM, stage 4. We are in the re-growth stages since Feb. Today's emergency MRI (because speech took a dive)...showed a significant enhancement since Feb. MRI. He did only one cycle of Temodar..which didn't help obviously. We were told they would like to do a 2nd surgery to de-bulk the tumor. At first, my thoughts are that's great news, but then the reality hits me with...is this just prolonging the inevitable w/this disease? The agony of the fact that it will grow back again and again until it kills you?
My dad had total ressection in July 2007. Had 30 rounds of radiation...opted out of chemo regimen. Hates taking his meds, when we learned of re-growth in February, he decided to try the chemo and tolerated it well...however he took himself off many of the anti-seizure meds and was weaning himself off the Decadron. This led to an ER visit today and a MRI which showed the enhancement. If he has the surgery he will still need to take all the other meds...my brother and I are trying to make him realize and understand that...YES, we want him to fight...but just the surgery is not all he has to do. The medications are part of the package deal to keep this monster at bay.
I guess what I'm asking is how many people have gone through a 2nd surgery and how helpful or how long to it prolong quality of life?
Thanks,
Jill