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Today we got Steves brain tumour results back

756 replies

onlyjoking9329 · 10/08/2007 14:52

had a phone call from the hospital.
Steves tumour is grade 4.

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smoggie · 12/08/2007 23:42

thinking of you all - only just seen this thread. Wish there was something I could say that might be of some practical use.

KerryMumbledore · 12/08/2007 23:48

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onlyjoking9329 · 12/08/2007 23:50

i just need a positive story that i can show steve, he doesn't really "do" reading he didn't/hasn't read a book on autism yet. i don't think he will read a book as such, but if i can find something positive on grade4 gliomas then i could print it out and leave it somewhere for him to read. everything i have found is so not positive

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KerryMumbledore · 12/08/2007 23:54

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onlyjoking9329 · 13/08/2007 00:23

that is scary reading, i don't think steve is ready to read that just yet.
he said today that is maybe a blessing if this kills him cos he is worried that his MS will leave him unable to walk

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KerryMumbledore · 13/08/2007 00:24

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onlyjoking9329 · 13/08/2007 00:27

i didn't get as far as the bottom. i think things are gonna get much harder, and to think that i thought the last week was hard.
thanks for the link i have saved it for reference

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KerryMumbledore · 13/08/2007 00:46

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robinpud · 13/08/2007 07:32

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wishingchair · 13/08/2007 10:52

Oh onlyjoking - just seen this thread ... I'm sorry. I know EXACTLY what you're going through as we were told the same thing back in April. They weren't sure if it was grade 3 or 4 but decided to assume it was 4 and hit it hard. On that basis, we were given 2 years, with treatment. Months without. It is awful, sickening, just horrific. But DH was determined this wasn't going to get him so this is what we did:

Got all our affairs in order ... got wills sorted out, talked about funerals (only very generally, not planning them), made sure we knew what would happen re: life insurance, mortgages etc (... check out if you have any critical illness cover on things like endowments as a grade 4 brain tumour is covered by that - better the money is out and invested even in a bank than taking the chance of the endowment paying out at term), talked to his work HR person so we understood what would happen if he couldn't return to work, etc.

Cancerbackup is an excellent site -we got all our info from there. About statistics and positive stories ... they are hard to find (I know cos we looked) but you need to remember that so many statistics for cancer seem to be in 5 year blocks ... so even for a low grade glioma you'll find life expectancy at 5 years +. If they go in aggressively with chemo/radio, it can do amazing things.

Ask your oncologist about temozolomide chemo alongside the radiotherapy. It is specifically for high grade tumours and you need to take it about an hour before the radio. The statistics were something like traditional radio/chemo gave you a 22% chance of living to 2 years, but this pushed it up to 45%. Still grim I know, but better.

Getting set up for the radiotherapy took about 3-4 weeks ... frustrating but they've got to get it right.

There's also a drug called clomapramine ... it used to be an anti-depressant but not used so much now as there are better more modern equivalents, BUT it is being tested as there is unproved but anecdotal evidence it could help destroy brain tumour cells. DH tried it when doing radio/chemo but it made him feel terrible and he started twitching (we first found out about his tumour cos of seizures) so he had to stop taking it. He might try it again now the radio has stopped. So ask about that ...

We also got a decent juicer and he has a big load of juice every day. Into that he mixes something called Coriolus powder which comes from mushrooms (coriolus mushrooms??). Anyway, we have friends who have a business that makes all kinds of complementary medicines and they'd heard about this. Apparently it's widely used in Japan and countries like that. It is supposed to boost your immune system so that your body can fight cancer cells better. We have no idea if it works or not, but DH went through the 6 weeks of radio/chemo and his blood counts stayed either constant or only dipped slightly throughout, and whilst we've all been plagued with colds, he hasn't had even a sniffle. He still has this every day.

People will tell you that you should think positive. I think they're right but then you feel guilty like you're going to make bad things happen when you think about them dying. You have to think about them dying because that's the reality we're facing but you and dh should remember that he's still young (certainly in brain tumour terms!!), he has a lot to live for, surgery has got rid of a lot of it and chemo and radio will get rid of even more. Statistics can play with your mind ... all you see are the averages and you need to remember that to get to those averages, there are people who have lived way beyond the average. There is absolutely no reason why your dh isn't going to be one of those.

Sorry for the long post ... I just wanted to brain dump all the info I had in my head for you. DH also found a really good booklet about brain tumours. I'll dig it out and email it to you.

Sending you lots of love xxxxx

NadineBaggott · 13/08/2007 10:56

wishingchair what an inspirational post . Such positivity and useful information. it brought a lump to my throat.

Very best wishes to you, your dh and family and also to oj and family.

wishingchair · 13/08/2007 10:58

last thing ... there's also a very precise form of radiotherapy called gamma knife. the centre for this is in sheffield. It wasn't suitable for dh as his tumour was too big and messy but could be worth asking the oncologist about.

onlyjoking9329 · 13/08/2007 12:06

thankyou wishingchair, lots of stuff there for me to digest, i didnt realize the radiotherapy would take so long to set up,that will make things a bit easier as the kids may be back at school when it starts. steve is now having staples out on thursday, couldn't get him in for today.

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onlyjoking9329 · 13/08/2007 19:27

had to re arrange staple removal for tomorrow as they will probably need him staple free to make his mold. just a thought but he still has swelling to his face and head so will they do the mold yet?
or will they send us away until swelling gone down?

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onlyjoking9329 · 13/08/2007 21:13

i have emailed you robinpud, thankyou.
steve has been sleeping for most of the day, he has been in a lot of pain too.
will see what happens on wednesday, they did mention him having a full body scan but not sure when this will happen.

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NadineBaggott · 13/08/2007 21:15

blimey it sounds rough for you both - hope everything goes ok.

onlyjoking9329 · 13/08/2007 21:33

i am not sure what news we will get on wednesday. prognosis seems to vary from 3 months to two years in everything i have read on this type of tumour. the thing is steve should have been rescanned in april, he didn't get it until august that is 3 months when he could have been having treatment.

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toomanywrinkles · 13/08/2007 21:56

Gliomas are fairy tricky to remove totally.
My brother had one, his was graded three/four They gave him 9 months after a series of treatments. Sadly It did continue to grow but he did live for eleven months.

onlyjoking9329 · 13/08/2007 22:21

sorry to hear about your brother.

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robinpud · 13/08/2007 23:03

I haven't had an email from you yet oj- will keep watching

onlyjoking9329 · 13/08/2007 23:16

i have emailed you again.

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MintyDixCharrington · 13/08/2007 23:17

Hi OJ, I've just emailed you
xx

onlyWotz · 13/08/2007 23:17

thoughts are with you

onlyjoking9329 · 14/08/2007 10:41

thanks for your e mail minty, not had time to read and digest it all yet but i will do shortly. DS is throwing up today.

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GlitterandSpangles · 14/08/2007 13:03

long time lurker but just had to respond to this.My friend and neighbour had this some years back. I don't know how long she had it before it was discovered.
although she was very poorly she did live for around a year and got to see her youngest child start big school. There may have been some medical advances in treatment for this.
sending lots of good wishes your way, it doesn't seem fair for you to have this to deal with and 3 Kids with extra needs, they look beautiful by the way.
Following yours and Misdees stories really humbles me,