About Karen Brawner Expertise I will answer your questions regarding cancerous brain tumors and benign train tumors. I will help your with the research of your condition so that you can help yourself in making a quality decision about your treatment.
Experience My husband had metastasis from malignant melanoma to the brain (3 tumors) and a friend of mine suffers from a benign brain tumor which she refuses to have surgery on. I can only make suggestions as to what you need to talk to your doctor about.
Question My father was diagnosed with a Glioblastoma brain tumor on January 8, 2003. Since then he has had surgery. They took out all they could see. But the tumor (grade 4) had feelers and he couldn't get them. 3 weeks after surgery, he started radiation. On his first appointment, they did a cat scan and they didn't see anything.
He is now in the 4th week of radiation, and we have noticed some changes. He has been having mood swings and very irritable. He says he wants to stop radiation, he is going to die anyway. We keep encouraging and trying to keep him positive. But I don't know if this is enough. He stops eating for days at a time and just sleeps and any little thing annoys him. He went from being so positive in the beginning to totally the opposite. Is there anything you can reccomend or any advice that might help. Any little bit would be appreciated.
We really love our father and don't like seeing him like this.
Thanks for you time,
Sherry Betzer
Answer Dear Sherry, The problem with brain tumors and radiation is you do not know if it is the tumor itself that is causing the mood swings, irritability etc or the radiation treatments.... Both can make your father seem like a different person and it is very hard to accept and understand...
Unfortunately, your father is probably right.. As you were already told by the doctors, there is only so much radiation that can be applied to the brain, because of possible severe damage to the GOOD brain cells and tissue. So once he has had all the treatments he can get, there is nothing left to do. HOWEVER, there are clinical trials going on that are testing new chemo and immunotherapy drugs as well as combinations of these products with radiation. But, if your father wants to stop the radiation treatments, it is doubtfull that he will want to enter into a clinical trial, but you might want to talk to his doctor about this...
Unfortunately, you and the rest of your family, because you love him so much, is getting the brunt of his disease. Brain tumors/cancer is terrible to have and terrible to watch. The first thing the patient feels is ANGER and DEPRESSION... Both of these is what you father is expressing at this point. The radiation therapy can cause tiredness and irritability. Sometimes it can cause nausea and this makes the person not want to eat, but also depression can do this... As the cancer/tumor progresses, his symptoms, irritability, mood swings, failed memory, and even the probability of him not knowing who you are will make things not only worse for him but for the family too. I know when my husband's tumors affected his memory and he started yelling at me and not knowing who I was and thinking everyone was trying to poison him and kill him, it was the saddest dayS of my life... He was very hurtfull with his words and all I could do was say to myself that he does not know what he is doing. unfortunatly, the same thing will happen to your family and to your father.. I found it to be a blessing for HIM and for ME, when he went into a coma and passed away. We were BOTH at peace then...
All I can tell you is to read about this disease, know what to expect about this disease and try to understand that what happens is NOT really your father. His anger, irritability, memory loss, changes in personality etc are all caused by the tumor and the disease.. You and the rest of the family are REALLY going to have to be strong because your father is going to dish out a lot of anger, hurt, mean and spitefull things at you during this time.. Remember, it is the disease that is causing this and even if he doesn't remember you in the end, he, the person, still loves you even if the brain is telling him to be mean...
If he does not want the radiation, there is really nothing you can do to MAKE him have it... Each person must deal with his OWN tumor and cancer in his own way. Trying to rason with him at this time is NOT going to do any good... He is angry that this has happened to him, he is receiving radiation that in and of itself is going to affect his mind. The best thing to do at this point is to do what HE wants to do and not what YOU and the rest of the family WANT him to do. If you persist, he will only get more angry and more depressed...
I hope this helps and thank you and I will add all of you to my prayer list. Karen
