Secondary cancer in brain after bowel cancer...

[hackneyzoo]

Does anyone come back from this? My DSis had BC two years ago and was given the all clear. Nothing showed up in recent scans, all blood tests clear. She started to feel odd, had a brain scan and there are several small tumours (6 or 7) less than 0.5mm. She has been confused and forgetful, but cortisone tablets should kick in to alleviate this. Then when swelling has gone down on the brain two weeks of whole brain radiation treatment. Has anyone had experience of this?
She's fit, healthy, doesn't smoke, runs, is a healthy weight. Will the confusion get better or just be compounded by the WBRT? The oncologist wasn't particularly insightful and the radiologist just said you can expect up to a 10% reduction in cognitive function after radiation therapy. The oncologist said chemo wasn't effective on such tumours due to blood brain barrier etc, but then said if the the radiotherapy didn't work they'd try chemo...

[Babyroobs]

I have nursed a lot of patients with brain metastases and generally after whole brain radiotherapy symptoms can sometimes initially get a bit worse before they start to get better. Steroids will help the symptoms and after a while the Drs may be able to reduce the steroids down a little. I think to be honest it's just a waiting game to see how effective the Radiotherapy is and how long it keeps things in check for. Sorry you are going through this. Does your ds have a macmillan Nurse or Clinical Nurse specialist that she can ask for advice?

[hackneyzoo]

Thanks for your reply. Dsis doesn't live in the U.K. And there isn't the equivalent of Macmillan where she is. The other problem is she is tri lingual but doesn't seem to be able to speak the language of the country she lives in any more.
Does anyone have any experience of the radiotherapy actually getting rid of the metasteses for good?

[thatdearoctopus]

Hi, hacneyzoo. Just saw this thread and it seems that my mother has got a very similar diagnosis to your sister. Just wondering how things are panning out for you all.
We got our news just before Christmas, but dm was told there was no treatment beyond steroids to alleviate symptoms. We were led to believe she had a short time left, but here we are in nearly May, and she hasn't had a massive decline yet. There are a range of symptoms, obviously, but she's still on form. Falling and breaking her hip a month or two ago didn't help, of course, but she's recovering well from that.

[hackneyzoo]

Hi Thatdearoctopus, sorry to hear about your DM.
After further tests it turns out my dsis's current cancer was not related to earlier BC but is melanoma and totally separate, so she's just been really really unlucky.
Whole brain radiation therapy and steroids have made a massive difference and she is currently doing a lot better, and has started on immunotherapy, so things are moving on in a positive way, it's a case of waiting and seeing.
I hope things stay stable with your Mum and she is comfortable. It's such an awful thing to go through, for everyone really.