thoughts on a tumor being "inoperable"

laurabee99
laurabee99 Member Posts: 1
edited March 2014 in Brain Cancer #1
Hi there. My boyfriend has recently been diagnosed with an Anaplastic (grade III) oligodendroglioma. The word from our hospital is that it's inoperable, in that it could cause a lot of damage to try to remove it. What are other folk's thoughts on whether there might be another surgeon out there who COULD operate on it? We're at Emory, in Atlanta, and I just wondered if we should visit Duke or MGH, or somewhere else. Any thoughts?? Thanks in advance.

Comments

  • chiligrl
    chiligrl Member Posts: 20 Member
    #2
    Maybe MD Anderson in Houston. My neurosurgeon in Lubbock is supposed to be one of the best, too...his name is Harold Smith in Lubbock,TX. Good luck to you. I have a Grade II oligo...Dr. Smith got 90-95% of it...then had rads and chemo...if they CANNOT operate and remove it, I would look at alternative methods...such as diet and herbs. There is a ton of information available. Good luck!!
    Chris
  • TAremote
    TAremote Member Posts: 56 Member
    #3
    Never take the word of one Dr. Go get a second opinion NOW. I have stage 4 glio Blastoma, and we went for a second opinion. I also help another family be having them see my neorosurgeon atter deing told by their Dr' they had an inoperable tumor. So, as you can see, go get another DR to look at it. I live in Overland Park Kansas. My Dr is John Clough...

    God Bless
    Tom
  • onaroll
    onaroll Member Posts: 1
    #4
    In 2000 my wife's oligo (anaplastic grade 3) was diagnosed by Duke as inoperable - too large and in too sensitive an area of the brain (left temporal and parietal lobes) and she underwent radiation therapy. It was stable for 3+ years following that, but showed signs of renewed activity this year.

    Duke wanted us to do some tests that insurance wouldn't cover, so we went to MD Anderson for a second opinion.

    We thought the Duke doctors were good (and they are) but MD Anderson blew them away in every area. Their imaging technology was far superior, and their head of neurosurgery, Dr Sawaya, spent a long time with us discussing options, said he could operate and remove most of this tumor with little risk to my wife, and two weeks later we were on our way home with new scar and less tumor!

    Apparently no "expert" wants to say "I can't operate on it, but this guy can."

    If you haven't done so already, I strongly suggest MD Anderson for a second opinion. You can self-refer from their website http://mdanderson.org

    Two months after surgery, my wife is doing very well and about to start follow-up chemo, but Dr. Sawaya is very confident that he got 95% of the tumor, and her prognosis is very strong.
  • HeatherS
    HeatherS Member Posts: 2
    #5
    Hello. Both myself and my fiance have had brain tumors removed by Dr. Keith Black who heads the Neurosurgical Institute at Cedar Sinai. My tumor was benign which he removed 10 years ago, but my fiance, like your boyfriend had a grade III oligodendroglioma removed. Both of us had hopeless reports from the first Dr. we saw, but Dr. Keith Black was able to accomplish total resection. Best wishes.
  • HeatherS
    HeatherS Member Posts: 2
    #6
    I recommend checking out Dr. Keith Black at Cedar Sinai in Los Angeles. He removed my fiance's grade III oligodendroglioma and removed a benign tumor I had 10 years ago. My fiance's first Dr. also gave a similar prognosis. However, Dr. Black was able to attain total resection of his olig. Best wishes.

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