Meningioma: Anyone else? I'm frightened

Posted by pixie49247 @pixie49247, May 12, 2023

I just found out I have a Meningioma tumor from a MRI I had for something else. Doctor said they are almost always benign and am going to get an appointment with a neurologist. Anyone else have one of these. I’m getting very frightened now.

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@babe69

Annual monitoring through the end of this year than go after that go from there!

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First, hopefully you have consulted with a neurologist and not just your primary care physician. Secondly, did the physician who ordered the scan state that the headaches are most likely a symptom of the meningioma, or a separate issue, not related to the meningioma. I ask this because I was told that if a meningioma is causing symptoms (like a headache, vision changes, etc.) then you should be a little more aggressive figuring out what to do rather than just annual monitoring.

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@celia16

Has your doctor discussed options? I have 2 friends who had this and both had surgery with full recoveries. I hope they can find some help for your headaches.

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Annual monitoring through the end of this year than go after that go from there!

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@colleenyoung

Welcome, @babe69. I moved your post about being recently diagnosed with a menigioma to this existing discussion:
- Meningioma: Anyone else? I'm frightened https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/meningioma-9/

I did this so you can click the link and read the stories of others and connect with them easily. I also ask along with @celia16: Has your team talked about options with you and what to expect?

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Thank u, I appreciate it I’m new & fighting everything out!

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@babe69

I was diagnose with a Meningioma Brain Tumor & it’s scaring me to be honest. Lately I’ve been getting really bad headaches.

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Welcome, @babe69. I moved your post about being recently diagnosed with a menigioma to this existing discussion:
- Meningioma: Anyone else? I'm frightened https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/meningioma-9/

I did this so you can click the link and read the stories of others and connect with them easily. I also ask along with @celia16: Has your team talked about options with you and what to expect?

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@babe69

I was diagnose with a Meningioma Brain Tumor & it’s scaring me to be honest. Lately I’ve been getting really bad headaches.

Jump to this post

Has your doctor discussed options? I have 2 friends who had this and both had surgery with full recoveries. I hope they can find some help for your headaches.

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I was diagnose with a Meningioma Brain Tumor & it’s scaring me to be honest. Lately I’ve been getting really bad headaches.

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I was diagnosed with a meningioma in 2018. I was having double vision at night. My ophthalmologist sent me to a neuro ophthalmologist and he got me an appointment with a neuro surgeon within a week. It was scary. The surgeon- Dr. Fields was very caring and said since it was under 3cm, I could have Gamma Knife surgery or a craniotomy as the Gamma would only stop it from growing and the craniotomy would remove it. I researched the Dr. and Gamma surgery. I chose Gamma. I had to have an MRI 3 months later and then every year for 2 years and now the MRI's are only needed every 4 years. The Gamma surgery worked and it hasn't grown. (I just had my MRI) Gamma surgery is non-invasive and you only have to take it easy for a few days.
Good luck and let me know if you have any questions.

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I was just diagnosed with bilateral frontal convexity meningiomas. This was an incidental finding on an MRI. I don’t have any symptoms. The sizes are 9mm and 1.3cm. My father had an acoustic neuroma and cousin has a grade 3 glioma. I recently had an appointment with a Neuro-Oncologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering who told me not to worry due to their size and meningiomas typically being benign. He suggested I follow up with another mri in one year.

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Thanks for responding. Glad you are on the mend. I have my mri in September and will make a decision.

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@geedle12

Thanks for your reply. If you don't mind me asking how big was it and where was it located, was it calcified. I read they don't remove them until they are 3 cm or over and causing a problem. Where was it located? Where did you have the surgery? I would like to avoid surgery if possible.

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geedle12: My meningioma was a "sphenoid wing" meningioma, 2.7 centimeters, located 1/16th if an inch from my optic nerve. The meningioma was not calcified. It was benign. I was advised by a radiation oncologist that if one's meningioma is problematic and needs to be dealt with that removal is always the first choice. I was told by 3 doctors that no surgeon would feel comfortable operating b/c the meningioma was in a difficult location, too dangerous to remove because of my optic nerve and location of arteries, etc. So I thought radiation was my only choice. But a neurosurgeon at the University of Calif. in San Francisco said, "No problem. I do one or two a week in that location." (insert smily face emoji) My husband calls him the rock star of neurosurgery. By the way, the radiation oncologist, the person who would have planned the radiation protocol had I gone that route, said you can't usually have that procedure done if the growth was more than 3 centimeters.

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