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My brother was diagnosed with stage 4 glioblastoma brain tumor in late December. He is 67. He was in excellent health at the time of diagnosis. About 10 days ago from this writing he had surgery, and they were able to remove 90 pct of the tumor, but the part that was left was on the top of the brain and the part of the cancer cells that had went over to the left side. The tumor had taken over the entire right side previous to surgery. He had a good deal of confusion before the surgery, but since the surgery he has gotten much worse. His walking is also more difficult, and he will most days not know what is going on and he cannot bathe himself. His wife used to be a RN and has worked in nursing homes, so she has worked with patients who needs aid.
He can walk, but his walk has slowed down, and he will wonder and just stop and not know where he is at. He will complain a lot about fatigue.
He just started some chemo and radiation treatment two days ago, so unsure how this will impact him. He has aged over 20 years in the past month. He eats a lot, but has no memory of eating one hour later and says he wants to eat again. He will get into the refigerator and east a half a stick of butter, pour barbeque sauce on his and and eat it. He comes up with the most oddest saying, talking about cats and singing about them. I read this on the web and it sounds right....like alzheimers on steriods.
My question....is for anyone with family/friends in this stage 4 condition. How fast did they continue to go downhill even with radiation? The plan is for 6 weeks of radiation. He was in some therapy, cognitive and muscular, but doesnt have the understanding now to do any of it....he keeps wanting to talk about abstract things and doesnt want to get up much if he is sitting.
I heard the next thing to watch is bathroom issues, as that is usually among the last to go. He kind of recognizes people. He knew I was visiting, but at the same time didnt say hello or hi, but he said my name.
I'm sorry, I don't have any experience wilh this. Hopefully the radiation will kill yhe rest of the tumor and he will regain more of who he was. I have a stage IV breast cancer friend. I saw her shortly after radiation to her brain. She seemed slow mentally. A year later she has bounced back and seems great. I'm hoping the same for your brother.
I'm sorry, I don't have any experience wilh this. Hopefully the radiation will kill yhe rest of the tumor and he will regain more of who he was. I have a stage IV breast cancer friend. I saw her shortly after radiation to her brain. She seemed slow mentally. A year later she has bounced back and seems great. I'm hoping the same for your brother.
Thank you for your kind words...... we all hope for the best and taking it day to day.....
One thing I've learned by living with stage IV breast cancer for so many years? Just LIVE. Each day. No worrying about things out of your control, no wasting time on worry, just live.
My brother was diagnosed with stage 4 glioblastoma brain tumor in late December. He is 67. He was in excellent health at the time of diagnosis. About 10 days ago from this writing he had surgery, and they were able to remove 90 pct of the tumor, but the part that was left was on the top of the brain and the part of the cancer cells that had went over to the left side. The tumor had taken over the entire right side previous to surgery. He had a good deal of confusion before the surgery, but since the surgery he has gotten much worse. His walking is also more difficult, and he will most days not know what is going on and he cannot bathe himself. His wife used to be a RN and has worked in nursing homes, so she has worked with patients who needs aid.
He can walk, but his walk has slowed down, and he will wonder and just stop and not know where he is at. He will complain a lot about fatigue.
He just started some chemo and radiation treatment two days ago, so unsure how this will impact him. He has aged over 20 years in the past month. He eats a lot, but has no memory of eating one hour later and says he wants to eat again. He will get into the refigerator and east a half a stick of butter, pour barbeque sauce on his and and eat it. He comes up with the most oddest saying, talking about cats and singing about them. I read this on the web and it sounds right....like alzheimers on steriods.
My question....is for anyone with family/friends in this stage 4 condition. How fast did they continue to go downhill even with radiation? The plan is for 6 weeks of radiation. He was in some therapy, cognitive and muscular, but doesnt have the understanding now to do any of it....he keeps wanting to talk about abstract things and doesnt want to get up much if he is sitting.
I heard the next thing to watch is bathroom issues, as that is usually among the last to go. He kind of recognizes people. He knew I was visiting, but at the same time didnt say hello or hi, but he said my name.
Thank you
Dan
It's a Grade IV Glioblastoma. Other cancers are "staged", but since gliomas (the most common primary brain cancer in adults) usually don't metastasize, they are graded on certain traits which might portend a poor prognosis (early death) on a scale of I to IV.
Your brother's is unfortunately the worst brain cancer to have. At least he's 67.
The connection between the apparent Alzheimer's and steroids is real, though not like you might think it would be. It's called "edema" or swelling. Whenever the brain is operated on, or has a rapidly growing lesion, the patient will present with "oedemagenic" symptoms. When I became conscious after surgery, I could not say much, nor could I move my right side, nor could I move any of my left fingers. The real severe things went away about a week or so later as the swelling quelled and they took me off the steroids.
I had radiation last fall for my grade II/III tumor, and what I found to be most impacting side effect was fatigue. I would only be awake for 8 hours total after they completed it. Radiation might reduce some of his odd behaviors.
My sister's husband was diagnosed with stage 2 glioma almost two years ago. He also had surgery immediately and they were unable to remove everything. He is starting chemo soon. I know after the surgery my BIL was confused and his memory / correct wording took a while to come back. Then it was like nothing happened. That is the extent of my experience, and I'm so sorry to hear about your brother. Best wishes to you and your family for your brother.
My mom had Glioblastoma, surgery done slightly over a year ago. She was told the entire tumor was removed, which is unusually good to our understanding, as is her stopping chemo a few months after and not having anything bad show up in a scan since. The most obvious differences since pre-cancer she shows and has mentioned are a bad memory, particularly with names of things; fatigue; and headache induced from certain sounds.
With multiple cancer-free scans even after stopping chemo, I thought she didn't have cancer anymore until I did some research recently, finding that cancer cells will spread to other parts of the brain, particularly in such an advanced cancer state, so she still shouldn't live that long.
My brother was diagnosed with stage 4 glioblastoma brain tumor in late December. He is 67. He was in excellent health at the time of diagnosis. About 10 days ago from this writing he had surgery, and they were able to remove 90 pct of the tumor, but the part that was left was on the top of the brain and the part of the cancer cells that had went over to the left side. The tumor had taken over the entire right side previous to surgery. He had a good deal of confusion before the surgery, but since the surgery he has gotten much worse. His walking is also more difficult, and he will most days not know what is going on and he cannot bathe himself. His wife used to be a RN and has worked in nursing homes, so she has worked with patients who needs aid.
He can walk, but his walk has slowed down, and he will wonder and just stop and not know where he is at. He will complain a lot about fatigue.
He just started some chemo and radiation treatment two days ago, so unsure how this will impact him. He has aged over 20 years in the past month. He eats a lot, but has no memory of eating one hour later and says he wants to eat again. He will get into the refigerator and east a half a stick of butter, pour barbeque sauce on his and and eat it. He comes up with the most oddest saying, talking about cats and singing about them. I read this on the web and it sounds right....like alzheimers on steriods.
My question....is for anyone with family/friends in this stage 4 condition. How fast did they continue to go downhill even with radiation? The plan is for 6 weeks of radiation. He was in some therapy, cognitive and muscular, but doesnt have the understanding now to do any of it....he keeps wanting to talk about abstract things and doesnt want to get up much if he is sitting.
I heard the next thing to watch is bathroom issues, as that is usually among the last to go. He kind of recognizes people. He knew I was visiting, but at the same time didnt say hello or hi, but he said my name.
My brother was diagnosed with stage 4 glioblastoma brain tumor in late December. He is 67. He was in excellent health at the time of diagnosis. About 10 days ago from this writing he had surgery, and they were able to remove 90 pct of the tumor, but the part that was left was on the top of the brain and the part of the cancer cells that had went over to the left side. The tumor had taken over the entire right side previous to surgery. He had a good deal of confusion before the surgery, but since the surgery he has gotten much worse. His walking is also more difficult, and he will most days not know what is going on and he cannot bathe himself. His wife used to be a RN and has worked in nursing homes, so she has worked with patients who needs aid.
He can walk, but his walk has slowed down, and he will wonder and just stop and not know where he is at. He will complain a lot about fatigue.
He just started some chemo and radiation treatment two days ago, so unsure how this will impact him. He has aged over 20 years in the past month. He eats a lot, but has no memory of eating one hour later and says he wants to eat again. He will get into the refigerator and east a half a stick of butter, pour barbeque sauce on his and and eat it. He comes up with the most oddest saying, talking about cats and singing about them. I read this on the web and it sounds right....like alzheimers on steriods.
My question....is for anyone with family/friends in this stage 4 condition. How fast did they continue to go downhill even with radiation? The plan is for 6 weeks of radiation. He was in some therapy, cognitive and muscular, but doesnt have the understanding now to do any of it....he keeps wanting to talk about abstract things and doesnt want to get up much if he is sitting.
I heard the next thing to watch is bathroom issues, as that is usually among the last to go. He kind of recognizes people. He knew I was visiting, but at the same time didnt say hello or hi, but he said my name.
Thank you
Dan. Yes; a close friend of mine's husband, 76 spent six weeks in Houston at MD Anderson receiving radiation and chemo following the removal of 97% of his tumor, the same kind you mentioned. They sent him home with a prescription for chemo pills (Temador) and physical therapy 3X a week. His changes are: he can't stand the odor of cooking but loves fresh fruit, his hair fell out and came back in white, his mind is sharp, he uses a walker most of the time but sometimes doesn't use it; he is totally blind in one eye and sleeps most of the day. He is critical of my friend, his wife and I know she's doing a great job. He takes six pills 4X per day, one is Dilantin an old anti seizure medication. He loves to talk to people about politics. They have a cleaning lady 2X a month and a yard man. His wife, who just got out of the hospital with horrific stomach pain from a twisted colon is fairly depressed most of the time and says she has nothing to look forward to and that he will never get well. The bit of tumor that's in there they won't remove. He has a daughter and sister who are devoted to him and sleep over most of the time and give him his meds. He likes to sit outside in 94 degree heat with their cat and chat on the phone.
Last edited by SouthernBelleInUtah; 08-19-2018 at 01:59 PM..
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