I have a menigioma. Should I wait or go ahead with surgery?

I have a 2 cm meningioma in tbe temporal area with some brain swelling. The neurosurgeon was willing to operate OR repeat the MRI in 4 months. I am not having any obvious symptoms . The brain swelling is causing me concern. Of course I thought of more questions once I got home and processed this new information. Has anyone had the brain swelling and if so, what advice were you given. This is all consuming esp. during the night!!!

If you're not taking steroids to help elevate the swelling, it might be wise to ask why not.

I think whenever we're talking about surgery of one's brain it is always wise/prudent to get a second opinion. Go to your second opinion appointment with a bullet list of questions.

I had swelling last year prior to my surgery. Swelling is caused by the pressure the tumor puts on the brain mass. There is no room inside the skull for the brain to expand, so it causes the swelling. Very important to act on this. In my case, it caused me some confusion, my words did not come out fluently, and it caused me headaches and balance issues. I had surgery 5 days after my MRI showed a 3.5x2.5 cm fronto- temporal tumor that had extended also behind my left eye. The swelling was clearly seen in my MRI. I recommend that you ask for a second opinion.

I SO appreciate your response.
I am working on this. Thank you..

Did you have any issues after your surgery?
Hope all is good.

I recently had two smaller meningiomas removed surgically. One 1 cm and the other 3/4 cm. I haven't felt this good in years. Neither was causing obvious symptoms...or so I thought until after surgery. I have clarity of thought I haven't had for years! I was surprised at how little pain there was after surgery and during recovery. My surgery was Aug 23, 2023.

I am sure you sharing your positive experience will be encouraging to others who are in the process of accepting that they need to have the surgery. I do feel that the location of the meningioma can make a big difference with regard to our personal experience. Mine was removed 3 weeks ago and was 1/16th of an inch from my optic nerve. A post surgery MRI showed that the entire 3 centimenter meningioma was resected and no damage to the optic nerve in the process, but my recovery has been difficult. I have severe double vision and a lot of what I assume is zinging nerve pain on the left side of my head. As in real estate, I assume location, location, location, can make all the difference in our surgical outcome.

Thank you for sharing your positive experience. I’ve been on a watch and wait since my diagnosis of an olfactory groove meningioma in 2020. It is growing approximately 1mm a year and now measures 2cm. I’ve consulted with at least 5 surgeons and all of them have a different approach. My insurance does not cover surgery outside of CA. How did you pick your surgeon and decide on an approach?

Bella, where was the location of your meningiomas? Your positive comment after surgery is encouraging. I’m waiting to have surgery after my daughter’s wedding in June of 2024. Not knowing the outcome is frightening.

My experience - after two emergency surgeries to remove a 3cm meningioma, and then another surgery to deal with infection of the healing wound - is that the first, the craniotomy, was so easy in terms of in and out in four days and no pain at all after. The second "repair" surgery, which did not have to go back into the skull, caused residual pain and headaches for about 2-3 weeks. (that surgery was Oct 5 of this year). I currently have periodic mild headaches, but nothing serious, and I believe that, over time, these will subside. So, all of this to say that try to be patient with your body's healing. A UK site (one of the many I've been researching on brain tumors and surgery) says it takes many weeks or months to heal from brain surgery. I think I expect my body to recover much faster than it needs. I'm trying to learn patience to let it heal slowly and well, while focusing on a very healthy diet, lots of sleep and rest breaks. Our bodies need it! Best to you.