in April my wife, on our 30th anniversary day had a seizure. Obviously the call to the hospital she had been taken to is one you never want to get. After a couple of days of tests we were told she has a brain tumor and a biopsy was scheduled.
From an MRI and the biopsy the neurologist (at that hospital) described it as inoperable. He did refer us to an neuro-oncologist that turned out to be terrific and incredibly well thought of in the field and at our hospital closer to home.
After meeting her and more tests and another MRI she gave us different news, that she had on her team a great surgeon that she would like to go in and relieve some of the pressure. The tumor was taking up "lots of real estate" and the MRI was easy to see what she saw.
The surgeon was also highly reputable and amazing. The surgery went very well on June 2nd. The tumor could not all be removed as it was intertwined in and around things you could not safely go near. Their pov was always about taking out what they could "safely".
A couple weeks later, we met to review another round of MRI and the docs were very happy. They removed a lot of material to further study it and from early biopsy material - they knew it was a very slow growing type of cancer , technically Oligodendroglioma and told us "take the summer off, enjoy it, we'll come up with a treatment plan in Sept"
So- this month we met , another MRI, and sure enough, the tumor had no signs of growth, they were very pleased and we were referred to a radiologist next. We met with him last week and the plan is radiology to kill active cancer cells. Radiology on brain tumors is lower doses than other parts of the body and of course, very pin pointed through a mask that was made on Monday over my wife's face.
It will be 6 and a half weeks , 5 days a week, then chemo (pill form) after that.
For the first time we heard last week a doctor reference time, life expectancy. The radiologist referred to data from past patients more than my wife's particulars but multiple times said she would be likely to survive decade or decades plural.
She will likely have to take an anti-seizure med for the rest of her life.
She talks often about "when she will be gone" with me and the kids - we try to shut her down immediately, lol
With anything to do with the brain, and surgery of course, there are changes. She likes to say she doesn't have a filter anymore. She was the nicest person I've known. Still is but when something doesn't go her way or a kid screws up, she lets them know now, used to swallow it more.
She is doing great, it really changes how I/we look at life and everyday life.
As she starts radiation, we enter the next phase. Nervous but trust the doctors on this team.
Sorry for the long story, once I got going, it went.