Meningioma: Anyone else? I'm frightened
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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I really do not like to talk about this because it brings back bad memories. I had meningioma a year and a half ago. My surgeon performed the craniotomy to remove a 2.9cm tumor. Although it’s benign, the tumor was pressing on my trigeminal nerves causing some severe pain in my jaw, so surgery was performed within months of my diagnosis. I was so scared for a little while but did not have much time to sit on it and think about it too much. Radiation was not an option due to the size of the tumor. Surgery was successful. I was in the operating room for about 10-12 hrs, ICU for 2 days and recovery for 2 days. Fast forward to today, I have some nerve damaged (presurgery) from tumor crushing on my trigeminal nerves causing some minor numbness and tingling on the left side of my face but it’s nothing compare to how it was pre surgery. I cannot talk about radiation as I have no experience nor knowledge of it. But if craniotomy is the option, I would advise for it. Ask your neurosurgeon/neurologist what brain tissues could potentially get injured/damaged from surgery. Craniotomy is a very scary idea but after going thru it, I think its an easy thing for a younger person to overcome.
If my tumor was not removed, my surgeon informed me that I probably would only have 2-3 years to live because the tumor was so close to my brain stem, on the left cerebral hemisphere and could exhibit mass effect on the pons. Another advice is to not wait longer to allow growth of the tumor which could affect or damage the surrounding brain tissues…..
I hope this helps…Good luck to you!!!
I have heard that radiation treatments can sometimes scar the brain so that later surgery is impossible. On the other hand, surgery doesn’t preclude later radiation treatments. So if the surgery is likely to be successful, they go to that first.
Best wishes to you. (I had meningioma surgery at age 74, and 8 years later my latest scan was clean. )
3 years ago my meningioma was discovered by accident. I had a dvt in my left leg - then checked lungs had pulmonary emboli in both and then checked my head. I had a 2.8cm that as far as I know was not causing me problems. Went on eliquis for the PE's and took the wait and see approach for the meningioma. had MRI's every 6 months and now it is 4.3cm in my cerebellum. I am 68 years old. I play doubles tennis 4x a week. My dad had a similar meningioma 30 years ago but with balance and vision symptoms. The surgery was successful but the swelling in his brain was not treated timely. So my main concern going forward is for a team approach whereby something like swelling or more PE's are treated right away.I've gotten 3 opinions and all agree that surgery (craniotomy) is next. They might not be able to get it all so radiation would be in my future to make sure what was left does not grow. The surgery is now scheduled for Feb. 18.