Neurosurgeon appointment - 08/08/07

This was to get a second opinion with regards to my glioma and also to discuss the options of removing it. The Neurosurgeon was a very pleasant chap and easy to get on with. I brought a copy of the MRI scans on CD as he was not provided with a copy. He had a quick look and spotted the glioma (tumour) very quickly (although my neurologist no doubt had supplied him with some clues). It turns out that it is about 2cms long and is, in the field of neurosurgery, considered to be relatively small. It is also in the right temporal lobe, just touching the right hippocampus. This surgeon does use the "Gamma Knife" which is a highly accurate and non-invasive way of zapping cancerous cells. Unfortunately, it is not appropriate for gliomas.

So he explains that I have three options: (a) do nothing and keep monitoring it. This is probably most appropriate seeing as it's low-grade and therefore relatively benign at the moment, (b) go for radiation treatment, which apparently you can only have once in your life (that's the series of treatment, not one radiation zap), or, (c) have it excised by surgery.

I've gone for (a). Why? Well, at the moment, it's not doing anything and the Lamotrigine seems to be doing its trick as far as stopping me from having seizures go. Option (b) is not attractive, especially as it can lead to hair loss, vomiting and all sorts of other unpleasant side effects. Also, as I said, you can only have it done once, so I'd rather wait until it's really necessary. Option (c) is almost out of the question. Because my tumour is quite deep within my brain, and because it's so close to the hippocampus, my neurosurgeon is worried that surgery could affect surrounding regions which could lead to severe short-term memory loss or, even, loss of use of one or more limbs. So that's a big no-no. It's also rather close to my amygdala - and damage to that is something I don't want to think about.

Next neurologist appointment - 11/07/07

This is after my three seizures in a row, and my second MRI scan. I'm a little worried because I don't know what he might find - i.e. what might have changed in my brain since the first one. In other words, had the multiple seizures affected the glioma at all?

Well, the good news was, no it hadn't. The glioma was still the same size. The other news, however, was that he felt now that I should consider having it removed (he had previously felt that it should not be touched). He had decided this after reading a recent article in "Neurology" - apparently the trade magazine, as it were, for brain people. So I've been referred to a neurosurgeon for his opinion and for me to discuss everything with him.