My friend Jenny

hoosier_kitten
hoosier_kitten Member Posts: 39
edited March 2014 in Brain Cancer #1
Hello again!

I have a bit of an update. I took Jenny to the neurosurgeon yesterday and he was very friendly and helpful. We feel very confident with his manner and deameanor. He is going to do a "functional" MRI next week. That is an MRI while they have her do tasks...toe tapping, finger moving, talking to her, asking questions, etc. This will better map the tumor to be able to do surgery soon after. Now, the surgery. He wants to do a crainiotomy, while she is awake. The Dr says this is the best way to get as much as the tumor as possible. They will again having her do tasks and functioning as they do surgery. The tumor is in the temporal lobe. Anyone else have this??? We would really love to hear from survivors of this particular surgery. Any comment would be helpful.

Thank you all so much. I know the help from the "semi-colons" are so much help to me, I know this board will be good for info for Jenny. Btw, she is a very strong, 49 yr old. Probably one of the strongest people I know.

Thanks
Rita

Comments

  • mrsbe
    mrsbe Member Posts: 57
    Rita,
    I had a crainiotomy in 2000. Although i was not awake. My surgry took about 10 hours. I woke up in recovery and knew my husband and immediatly and wanted to see if everything moved and it did =) so i was back asleep for a few more hours. I was up and walking in 3 days and able to do all the small things ....feed myself and with assistance go to the restroom and sit upright in a chiar for awhile. Im in no way saying its easy but its doable. I know your friend wiil be fine it takes alot of patience and love and i see she has that in you.

    Thanks for the update.

    MrsBe
  • momissick
    momissick Member Posts: 1
    Hi, My mom who is 53yrs old will be going for an awake crainiotomy on Tuesday, Dec 9th. I am so scared. Her speech is so horrible. We have no idea what type of tumor it is. THe doctor also said he may not be able to get it all out and suggested possible inserting chemo waffers. We went to JFK in Edison. Can anyone help me get through this. - My email is [email protected] -
  • TAremote
    TAremote Member Posts: 56 Member
    momissick said:

    Hi, My mom who is 53yrs old will be going for an awake crainiotomy on Tuesday, Dec 9th. I am so scared. Her speech is so horrible. We have no idea what type of tumor it is. THe doctor also said he may not be able to get it all out and suggested possible inserting chemo waffers. We went to JFK in Edison. Can anyone help me get through this. - My email is [email protected] -

    Hi, I have stage 4 Glio Blastoma Multiform which is brain cancer. I had my crainiotomy on Aug 21st. I was not awake during the procedure. My neurosurgeon said that he does have patients awake if it will increase the chance or assist in making sure they don't do damage to a part of the brain. Just depends why the tumor is located. My tumor is attached to the occipitial lobe which is your vision. They removed 80% of the tumor and inserted the wafers. Since then I have had both radiation and chemo. I have now started my second round of chemo (temadar) and the tumor has not grown but just a little since removing most of it. It sounds like your Moms tumor might be on the temperol lobe, since you say her speech is bad. Adn that may be why they want her awake. To ensure, they either improve it or don't do additional damage. You need to ask the Dr. what kind of tumor this is, ahd where it is located.. That will assist you in finding out more about the illness. Plus we can help you more... Please let me know if I can help you. Hang in there, there will be some bumps during this ride, So hold on to each other, and be there for her. BTW, I'm also 53 yrs old.

    God Bless
    Tom