Life After Brain Tumor

Gerryboys

Hi, I am new to this site. I had a brain tumor recection Feb 2006 followed by a year of Temodar. I have never been the same since. I take medication to sleep at night, to wake up and keep functioning during the day, and for depression. My quality of life has never been the same. I was wondering if anyone can relate? My MRI's have been clear Praise God, but they just say everythings great see you in 6 months..... Well everything is not great, I don't work anymore, it's all I can do to get 1 thing accomplishes during the day. The bills are piling up. I am still waiting for dissability which my doctors submitted paperwork for from Moffitt. I have trouble focusing for long periods of time, so I may have to end this soon. It sure would be nice though if I knew of anyone else can relate?
I was so happy to find this website this morning.

Thx for reading,
Jan

pacerintl

Jan
Do not give up. have surg Tue...have 2 tumurs, spel is bad...

nicoleddoran

stay strong
My mom is going through the same thing, brain tumor and bills- Keep your sense of humor, that is the only way to keep going

RLR

Gerryboys
Hello, I am 56 years old and I too have had surgery for GBM4 on Jan.13,2009.At that time I had most of the 7.5cm tumor removed,what they could see anyway. I also had GLIO WAFERS put on the tumor. Then 6 weeks of radiation(30 treatments) and have been on Temadar ever since March of 09 My MRI's have never came back clean but the doctors all say I am doing great and that I may never have a clean MRI.By the way I still have MRI's every 2 months. My quality of life has never been the same but it has not been to bad either.I am able to drive, mow the lawn and most home repairs as well as bowl on my weekly bowling league. I also try to get out and walk daily about 3 miles and ride my bike when it's nice out in N/W Ohio. I have not been able to return to work,in fact my doctor put me on permanent disability in March 2010.You mentioned not being able to focus for long periods of time,I too have the same problem. Although it has gotten better after surgery I had a great deal of trouble focusing on a simple task. I also have trouble with short term memory. I too have trouble going from one task to another without resting or taking a nap in between task. This is probably the bigest reason for not returning to work.I know 2 other guys with the same type of tumor about the same age as I am and diaagnosed within a year of each other. One of them has since died about a month ago and the other is not doing nearly as good as I am,I have truely been blessed by God through out this whole ordeal. I asked my doctor how long I would be on the chemo and he said possibly for the rest of my life. He said as long as I am tolerating the chemo so well he would not take me off.
Take care and please respond back if you would like to know more of my story.
Rick

rmatiasic

don't give up
My father was diagnosed in 1999 with an IV GBM. He too has some of these problems. His concentration and STM are very poor, as is his peripheral vision. He no longer works and cannot drive a car, and is on long term disability. He told his MD's that he was going to be in the minority and beat their prognosis of 2 years. While it has been a long 11 years, he is still with us, which is a miracle it itself. He attributes this to a positive attitude and a belief in God. Do not give up. If my father had, he would have not seen my college graduation, or my wedding. He is currently looking forward to meeting his grandchildren (someday). Everyday living with this diagnosis is precious. Prove the statistics wrong, and keep on fighting.

tommybear

rmatiasic said:

don't give up
My father was diagnosed in 1999 with an IV GBM. He too has some of these problems. His concentration and STM are very poor, as is his peripheral vision. He no longer works and cannot drive a car, and is on long term disability. He told his MD's that he was going to be in the minority and beat their prognosis of 2 years. While it has been a long 11 years, he is still with us, which is a miracle it itself. He attributes this to a positive attitude and a belief in God. Do not give up. If my father had, he would have not seen my college graduation, or my wedding. He is currently looking forward to meeting his grandchildren (someday). Everyday living with this diagnosis is precious. Prove the statistics wrong, and keep on fighting.

Good morning...
Thank you for your posting....that is an amazing long time for your father! I had surgery 1 1/2 years ago and was diagnosed with a grade 2, but was told yesterday that I will probably need surgery again within a couple of weeks and that it appears that my tumor has upgraded to a high tumor. So, to read your father's time is optimistic to me. I am 39 and have two boys - a 16 year old and an 8 year old - and would love to see my grandkids at a later date!

Anyhow, just wanted to thank you for your posting....take care...

Michele S.

KMPonder

rmatiasic said:

don't give up
My father was diagnosed in 1999 with an IV GBM. He too has some of these problems. His concentration and STM are very poor, as is his peripheral vision. He no longer works and cannot drive a car, and is on long term disability. He told his MD's that he was going to be in the minority and beat their prognosis of 2 years. While it has been a long 11 years, he is still with us, which is a miracle it itself. He attributes this to a positive attitude and a belief in God. Do not give up. If my father had, he would have not seen my college graduation, or my wedding. He is currently looking forward to meeting his grandchildren (someday). Everyday living with this diagnosis is precious. Prove the statistics wrong, and keep on fighting.

A great story of a brave
A great story of a brave man. We all should maintain hope and stay encouraged. You are right - EACH day is precious!