CancerCompass message board discussion started by gr8ful4itall on 4/8/2008 http://www.cancercompass.com/message-board/message/all,22813,0.htm Thu, 04 Dec 2008 00:00:00 GMT Thu, 04 Dec 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://backend.userland.com/rss RSS.NET: http://www.rssdotnet.com/ I took my mother-in-law to her treatment today. It's been almost 2 months since her dx (GBM 4)(95%resection, currently on temodar/radiation)..and things are going "okay". The double treatments are really sucking the life out of her. Today she was really tired. She's having lots of trouble sleeping and she can't seem to find any type of drug or alternative medicine that will help her. Anyway, back to my story...So in hearing her speak today I can definitely tell that her speech is slowing down. She talks slower, and seems to move slower. It's been 2 1/2 months since her surgery and she was fine after and up until now. I've never heard her speak so slowly. Then she took a valium to try to sleep and she was really bad...She said she wanted to try to rest so I left. My question is, is this a progressive condition(her speech) that will get worse the worse the cancer gets? Or is this just because her body and mind is so tired from the treatments? Anyone else experienced this? Thanks to all and God bless~ gr8ful4itall Tue, 08 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT HI ThereMy mums speach is not so good when she is tired or emotional. If your mums scans show no progression then go with that. you will find that she is probably tired from the whole ordeal. Try some soothing relaxation cds for her... Mum takes ativan for sleeping, and that works well. Also camomile tea. Gilda Gilda1981 Tue, 08 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT Is she taking steroids?  I wonder if there may be some swelling going on or something like that.,  please keep us posted.  They put my husband back on steroids and the swelling has gone down but the right side of the body still is being affected. Sam38 Wed, 09 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT As you mentioned, the treatments your mother in law are receiving are very fatiguing. Most anything can be affected by this kind of fatigue including speech. However, any kind of neurological change in your mother should be reported to her neuro-oncologist. In terms of managing fatigue during and after radiation+chemo, my wife slept a lot, and I believe this was the best thing for her. I encouraged her to sleep anytime she looked like she was tired, and she often didn't need my encouragement. Fatigue and sleep are very normal side effects of this kind of treatment. I certainly wish you both continued success in treatment and management of the treatments side effects. Brandon. Brandon-cg Wed, 09 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT