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Radiation for 70 yr old (glioblastomas grade 4)?
Good afternoon,
A friend of mine learned that her dad was diagnosed with glioblastomas (grade 4.) He is 70 years old. He did the surgery and the surgeon asked the family whether to proceed with the chemo and radiation.
At this moment, he can barely walk.
The radiation will be around 8 weeks and we were wondering what would be the benefit of it. Reading articles, it seems that for his age, the gain would be marginal and if it is to gain 3 months more but 2 of them (at the start) are lost in daily radiation at the hospital, is it worth it?
Also, we were wondering as one of the potential benefit would be an health improvement (after some potential difficult moment during the chemo) but we could not find whether or not it would be the case?
Finally, is there any benefit in doing only chemo (which consist in daily pills but can be done at home hence less demanding)?
Did anyone had this dilemma and what was their choice/guidance? Any (recent) article/research paper?
For me it seems the most important question instead of increasing the life expectancy, is the state he will be in during/after the treatment.
Thanks for reading and any help would be more than welcome in this difficult moment
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Oral Rex seems to work better with radiation. I had a few hair patch los at burn site. New equipment is much more focused than old whole brain zapping. Look into truebeam option
We shave a % on these treatments, but it does help family to know we tried. Sadly thisc1:100000 Dd has struck twice in our family. My brother in law and now me. Time to nip away at my bucket list.
I have not posted about my wife, Anne, age 72, for several months. Last June diagnosed with Glio stage 4. Had surgery July 6, followed by 30 radiations and then 72 doses of chemo with the five on 23 days off routine. She was in excellent condition prior to diagnosis as she walked daily 4-5 miles. During treatment she lost 20 pounds she didn't need to lose because she lost her taste and smell. She is fortunate that she has minimal pain during the entire process. She only had one event of nausea from the chemo.
Last week she had her third consecutive MRI with no results of tumor progression. The oncologist has taken her off chemo and MRI's will now be at 3 month intervals. About two months ago she began recovering her taste and is now eating regularly and gaining back the weight she lost.
She has brain fog which is frustrating to her. Her gait has changed along with her balance being impaired, but she can still walk ok. I need to be holding her hand when we are walking outdoors so she doesn't trip. Her energy level is also impaired. In spite of a scaled back life style we can still enjoy being together and doing many of the routine things in life like going to church, the store, out to dinner with friends. We have no guarantee how long she will be stable. Nonetheless, we thank God for the time we have together now, and for the past 10 months. Neither of us regret the choice to go thru the treatment she did.
Dan
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4 ReactionsI expected more side effects from radiation. Other than hair loss and skin burn, it was uneventful. Out of Rx and feeling well
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1 ReactionIt's just sad seeing him in pain. He even trembles when in pain.
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1 ReactionThis is what I am dreading for my dad too
He’s having the op Thursday and then for ) weeks radiotherapy 5 days a week … all so that he can live to be with us
The human will to live is so strong
Sorry about your friend
I'm in that situation right now with my dad it's a dilemma especially after seeing him in so much pain everytime he has radiotherapy sessions. It feels helpless seeing him like that. Just the other day he was healthy now he can't even walk by himself. It's just sad
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1 ReactionThank you this gives me some hope xx
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1 ReactionMy partner Bill a 70 year old healthy man had a craniotomy October 3 to remove the glioblastoma stage 4 tumor and it was a success. Had some vision loss as the tumor had wrapped around the vision area. He was great after surgery. Walking, taking and seeing. Cognitively he has experienced some challenges and was told not to drive as his peripheral vision is bad. His incision healed well so was able to start 15 treatments of radiation and oral chemotherapy. Took a month off from treatment in December. Then started oral chemotherapy in January 5 days per month and every month since. He tolerated it well so dosage was increased in April . He is still tolerating it well. MRI’s so far have shown no progression. We have our 3rd MRI since the craniotomy next week. We have been traveling and he visits his grandkids in Denver every 8 weeks. Best wishes for your dad’s surgery. Keep me posted how he does.
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1 ReactionMy dad was diagnosed with glioma today states aggressive form, he’s 71 fit and healthy just retired goes to the gym 3 x week, he’s like a 50yr old..
3 options given to us 1- symptom control - giving him months !
2/ biop with chemo/radio giving him 6/9 months
3/ Crainiotomy with treatment giving him 12 months ..
Shocked is not the words for it, he said but I feel ok how can this be!
Then watching my mum unravel how can she live without him after over 50 years of Marriage, now that was hard to watch.
He’s opted for the 3rd option and wants to live to se his grandchildren grow up..
Being a nurse myself I’m scared to loose my dad to surgery and treatments and having no quality of life . As he’s so active and full of it.
It’s totally his decision, of which I have to respect and that’s hard.
And the operation is booked for 1 weeks time..
What’s the outcome ?? Will he get more time ?? Will
He be able to live semi normal life ?
I’m scared, frightened for what’s to come.. my dad is a legend my hero xx