What's your life like after Brain surgery?

Posted by lisa88bloom @lisa88bloom, Mar 22, 2017

I had a 4 cm mengioma removed last year. It was in the skull base and was 14 hr surgery. I have a small regiment left, but watching with yearly MRIs....still have unbalance and numbness. I was curious if anyone else had a situation like this one. I spent a month in the hospital.

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I had a sister in law that just had brain surgery in right front and was cancer . In rehab now 2 wks later , not strong enough for chemo yet . Cant urinate on her own , but what do I expect for the future ? Will she recover ?

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Profile picture for hannahbananakevin @hannahbananakevin

@1997bcs I also had a germinoma brain tumor that was by my hypothalamus and pituitary gland in 2009. Also had radiation and chemotherapy, and brain surgery. I have had Diabetes insipidus since then, and just recently found out I have growth hormone deficiency as well, and am still working on getting the hormone replacement. Definitely deal with chronic fatigue. Cancer sucks man. And the affects of chemo and radiation seem to be never ending. Wishing you the best! Its rare to find someone else with the same tumor type and treatment.

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@hannahbananakevin, you're right that it is rare to find another person with the same type of rare cancer. Germinomas are rare tumors that primarily occur in children and adolescents. May I ask how old you were when the tumor was diagnosed?

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Profile picture for 1997BCS @1997bcs

I had a pineal germinoma brain tumor 20 years ago. My biggest challenges now are dealing with the late effects of the chemotherapy & radiation treatments. I have chronic fatigue and problems with my balance. I'm also on hormone replacements. The things that seem to help the most are pacing myself and focusing on one day at a time.

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@1997bcs I also had a germinoma brain tumor that was by my hypothalamus and pituitary gland in 2009. Also had radiation and chemotherapy, and brain surgery. I have had Diabetes insipidus since then, and just recently found out I have growth hormone deficiency as well, and am still working on getting the hormone replacement. Definitely deal with chronic fatigue. Cancer sucks man. And the affects of chemo and radiation seem to be never ending. Wishing you the best! Its rare to find someone else with the same tumor type and treatment.

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Hey Lisa88. I also had a tumor on my brain stem ( a medullablastoma ) after a 6 hr surgery lost nearly every bodily function for 2 weeks but after chemo, radiation speech and physical therapy was able to leave the hospital after 3 months. Still had major fatigue, some facial paralysis and total loss of balance but could function for the most part. Even got stronger over the years.

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I had a golf ball sized one removed, (but did not have a balata cover), still have numbness in face, jaw, and eye, chew on wrong side, but still drink a beer, run a little. When the doc is good, the rest is up to you and GOD.

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Yes, my friend. I had an ependymoma tumor removed from my spinal cord as it was near my brain stem. I was at Mayo 52 days and therapy for 4 years. I have numbness in my arms and legs and burning in my right hand especially. I do have balance issues but I work on this through exercise. I am 66 years old now and my surgery was ten years ago.

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Extreme Fatigue 24/7
Dizzy 24/7

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Profile picture for tiffanygal @tiffanygal

It’s been 15 years since my brain tumors were removed. First 10 years no problem but the last 4 years I suffer horribly.

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Sorry to hear you are suffering horribly, @tiffanygal. Will you share more about what has been happening the last 4 years?

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It’s been 15 years since my brain tumors were removed. First 10 years no problem but the last 4 years I suffer horribly.

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I had 2 meningiomas and one was removed from the frontal area of the brain and futurantely it has not return in the last 3 years. I have one on my optic nerve and it cannot be removed. I am futurnate that I had protron radiation on this one and it has not to this point changed. I do have a mri every year at this point but it was every 6 months until now. No change is good. I had a lot of dizziness and balance problems before surgery but I have to say I am very lucky because I have been able to return to normal again but I do experience some headaches still and my brain is a little slow on vocabulary and memory. Good luck to you hope your symtoms less over time. Mine did. It does take awhile.

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