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Anyone ever hear of such a thing? Being diagnosed with a brain tumor in 2000 and having 2 surgeries between then and 2007, then finding out in 2008 that it's a much more aggressive brain tumor (even though the doctors were informed of facial features not working when trying to smile), so you now have to go to a much more radical approach, with 3 different kinds of chemotherapy treatments at once. The MRIs then showed it shrinking to half the size after one month, and weeks later, down to a quarter of it's size in a matter of weeks. Finally being told the 'aggressive tumor' is really the result of a mild stroke and now you can "throw the chemo away". Ok, relieved, yet, as the mom, I'm not happy about what my son was put through.
It is not usual to proceed with chemo unless there is a biopsy to look at the kind of tumor. I've actually NEVER heard of doing that UNLESS it's in a very inaccessible part of the brain. The pathology examination is critical to determine the nature of the tumor (it could be metastatic, rather than originating in the brain, itself) and the course of treatment.
I may be wrong, but I don't think the MRI would show a mass that shrunk if it had been just a stroke. It's possible that the tumor caused the stroke, but there had to be a tumor to begin with for the MRI to show one.
The only other thing that I can think of was that the "mass" that was seen was actually the site of a brain bleed that caused a stroke, it would shrink as the blood was absorbed. But I'm thinking that they would have discovered that during surgery.
Perhaps the doctor phrased his opinion in such a way that it was easily misunderstood. Doctors are like that sometimes. They think that everyone understand medicine the way that they do. Nope. We often misunderstand exactly what they meant.
A personnal note about doctor/patient understandings. I was having trouble walking. The doctor told me I had some kind of reflex. ( I forget the name) That's all. No explanation. I worried until I could look it up on the internet. Everyone is supposed to have that reflex, If I had not had it, it would have meant trouble was on the way. He may have told me that, but I just had my mind on the fact that I had one and missed the good news.
I have had a lesion on my brain for 8 years that was first described as a stroke then 1 year later they call it a tumor, now it is probably a tumor. No way to know for certain unless they bopsy it and it is in an inoperable area.
Top docs have different opnions too. It is maddening that images still do not tell the whole story.
I am wondering thugh you said they did do a biopsy so that should have been definitive.
I have had a lesion on my brain for 8 years that was first described as a stroke then 1 year later they call it a tumor, now it is probably a tumor. No way to know for certain unless they bopsy it and it is in an inoperable area.
Top docs have different opnions too. It is maddening that images still do not tell the whole story.
I am wondering thugh you said they did do a biopsy so that should have been definitive.
lelectra ~ My son DID have a brain tumor (he has since passed), but I want people to know that they must keep track of what EVERY doctor tells them. Please do this for your loved ones or for yourself if that is the case. After all those years of what my son went through, we have found that there are many doctors who don't want to be questioned. PLEASE question them! They simply do not want to hear it. Many are egotistical and their egos are more important to them than the patient. We have seen this time and time again. That doctor eventually retracted the so-called "stroke" diagnosis. What an idiot. We had known for years that my son had had a brain tumor. Cripe!...he had two surgeries to prove it.
I wish you good health. Please keep track of every little thing. Have a notebook and pen available at all times.
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