What's your life like after Brain surgery?

Hi @robinlynn Nice to e-meet you here on Connect. Sorry to hear of your issues with fatigue. I am Scott and my wife also suffered from fatigue during her post-treatment times. Her doctor explained to her healing her body could often require extraordinary amounts of energy at times. Also he said as the body adjusts to a new reality post-treatment of any kind more energy may be necessary for prior practices that didn't demand as much energy as before.

No magic words, but I wanted to share those insights, which helped her adjust and manage better.

Peace & strength

Hello @robinlynn, Welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect! Thank you for posting. This community is a safe place for you to meet other people discussing their medical related experiences. We all learn from so much from each other!

Here is a link to Mayo Clinic's discussion on Pituitary tumors http://mayocl.in/2h5kGbu where they discuss treatment. I have also added another link to our research information center http://mayocl.in/2rpp3SW in hopes of digging up information on post radiation therapy. I hope you find both helpful.

What other problems besides fatigue have you been experiencing?
I wonder if starting a new topic thread in the cancer group about post radiation symptoms and how others are coping would be something you would be interested in? If so, I can walk you through the process or you can give it a go if you are interested. I am curious in knowing how many other people are asking some of the same questions.

I had radiation treatment following the removal of a tumor growing around my pituitary over 20 year ago. I too have had multiple problems that I believe are related to the radiation therapy. Fatigue is a problem along with multiple other problems. Trying to find an exact answer seems difficult because there are, I believe, little studies done of the long term quality of life effects of radiation therapy. I was in my 20's when I had it. Have you been able to find articles that confirm your suspicion?

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.

Hi Lisa,
My husband had a 3 cm meningioma removed in July. His surgery was performed in Los Angeles and was a 10 hour operation. They were not able to remove all of his tumor because part was attached to the brain stem. His meningioma was categorized as a type two which is fast growing. He suffered a small stroke along with some nerve damage resulting in paralysis in his throat and right side during the surgery. He was unable to swallow anything and was given a feeding tube. He also had to have extensive therapy to be able to walk and swallow again. In October we went to Mayo for radiation for the remainder of the tumor. Last week his feeding tube was removed and he can eat most foods. Most of his diet does consist of liquid nutrition drinks. His last MRI showed no growth in the tumor. He will continue to have MRIs every three months. Overall we have seen much improvement in the last eight months

Hello @lisa88bloom Nice to e-meet you here. Welcome to Connect! Sorry to hear of your health issues. I send you strength!

I am Scott and I was the primary caregiver for my wife who had brain cancer, a resection of most of her tumor, and then fought on for 14 years.

She spent a month in the hospital, six months inpatient rehab, then a year in outpatient rehab. She regained most of her abilities with her most notable deficits being left-side peripheral vision loss and math abilities.

I am happy to answer any questions you might have based on her experiences, but I certainly understand that each and every case of brain cancer is highly individualized in impacts, effects, treatments, recovery, etc.

Peace!