AboutClaes-Gustaf Nordquist, M.D. Expertise I`m a doctor of medicine and specialist in radiation therapy and medical oncology. I have a long time experience of these tumours.
Experience I'm a Doctor of Medicine. Licensed/certified physician and surgeon and specialist in Medical Oncology and Radiation therapy in Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and the European Union. Background in Radiation Therapy, Medical Oncology, Radiation Protection, Nuclear Medicine, Diagnostic Radiology, Gynecological Oncology, Clinical Pathology, Clinical Cytology,Hematology and Internal Medicine. M.D. from the faculty of medicine, Royal Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden. Have also been an exchange student at the Hebrew University, Hadassah Medical School, Jerusalem Israel. Former medical consultant, Swedish National Board of Radiation Protection. Former Police Surgeon and Medical Examiner, Stockholm Police Department. Former Chief Medical Officer, The Royal Guards, The Royal Horse Guards and the Royal Household Brigade, Royal Swedish Army Medical Corps. Now in private practice in Stockholm, Sweden. I also answer questions about Oncology (General Cancer),
General History,
Military History,
Breast Cancer,
Colon Cancer.
Question A friend of mine had no feelings in all of his left side, finger tips are cold and this feeling comes and goes. I also noticed his walk was sometimes awkward and a slight loss of equilibrium, he even admitted that he left leg was heavy, he has slurred speech which comes and goes, and a very almost unnoticeable short term memory loss for some things. He usually has excellent memory, I notice he could not even remember his code at the ATM. After some heated debate, he agreed to go to the doctor. I suspected a mild stroke. His cardiologist referred him to a neurologist who then sent him for an MRI. A few days after the MRI, he did not feel well although he had no pain but the speech became heavier than usual. We took him to emergency and they admitted him and did a CAT-SCAN of his brain which shows a small growth toward the back by the brain. The doctors also recommended a CAT-SCAN of his body to determine the cause for his symptoms and the growth.
I guess my question is what is wrong with him and what is causing the slurred speech to come and go? He says he feels fine because he has no pain; yet he does not sound fine and he looks tired. His tiredness I realize could be from working 348 days a year for the past 3 years due to his new furniture store he opened 3 years ago. He had a lot of stress and worries with the economy being bad, business was also and continue to be bad. Honestly I am afraid for him.
If you can shed some light on this it will be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
Answer A stroke was of course a possibility. But now his CT scan has shown something which probably is a tumor. What did his MRI scan show (MRI is better for tumors than CT)? Such a tumor can be a primary there (starting there) or it may be a secondary (starting somewhere else and then spreading to this new site, but if so it must be a cancer - his ER dr. must have been thinking along those lines since a whole body CT was suggested in order to look for a primary from which it may have spread). For the same reason I would suggest a PET scan too. If it is a primary we need to know what kind of a tumor it is (benign or malignant), however I have to point out that a CT scan is somewhat uncertain in brain tumor diagnostics (an MRI is better), from my own practice I know of a very special case. A twin (non identical) sister of an old girl friend of mine (more than 30 years ago) was sent to me by her sister (a physiotherapist & nurse) due to strange head aches. A CT scan showed a tumor suspect lesion in her cerebellum. An MRI scan was more uncertain. There were signs of a bleeding in the lesion but a tumor could not be ruled out. Neurosurgery was done (2 days after she first came to me). There was no tumor at all. What was found was an unusual bleeding (hemorrhage) inside her cerebellum ("little brain" behind her brain stem). She recovered completely - which was quite a relief, she was married with several small children. But such a case is most unusual. If this is a primary benign (non cancerous) tumor he can probably be cured. If it however is a malignant (cancerous) primary brain tumor his chances are bad. Also if it is a cancerous secondary tumor that has spread to there from somewhere else his chances are bad because then it would be a stage 4 cancer that has spread to his brain. Without knowing which alternative it is I can not predict anything. If you have any MRI scan results please let me know! You can copy them here. Please do keep me posted!
