Brain Cancer Surgery

Question: Can facial squamous cell carcinoma have a subsequent link to brain cancer - if surgery was successfull ?

Answer: I think what you are asking is; If you had a skin cancer successfully removed from your face can it later metastasize to your brain? The answer is yes. A lot depends on the stage at diagnosis. Brain cancer and skin cancer are two separate diseases and are not linked to one another.

Question: my friend is going to have a brain cancer surgery, will she be ok ?

Answer: I assume you meant brain tumor surgery...they will not know if it is cancer or not until after. After the tumor is removed, they will send it to a lab to determine whether it is cancerous or benign. If it is cancerous, she will most likely undergo radiation therapy and chemotherapy to try to kill any remaining parts of the tumor which the surgeon was unable to remove during surgery. Her chances of remission without relapse depends largely on how much of the tumor they are able to remove during surgery.

Question: I am writing a brain cancer survivor book where the cancer living in my head has a voice in the book? if the cancer left from my brain surgery has an active voice until it is fully eliminated by radiation and chemotherapy treatments, what style would the living cancer be classified under, narrative or what?

Answer: Wouldn't the cancer start getting older, sicker, and close to dying itself? I am a survivor myself, and I kept telling myself that no matter how sick I am from the chemo, the cancer was even more sick. I still heard it keep trying, but I tried harder. I kept telling myself that I was stronger than the cancer and it would die first. I guess that constitutes a narrative dialogue. I guess it did as I'm six years post-op.

Question: brain cancer.....? how long would it take to have a surgery for brain cancer? (how many days? months? years?) what procedures whould you have to take? what things should the doctors do to the patient who got a brain cancer? (such as CT scan and what other elses?) [i dont know what else to ask but i'll ask you some laters thank you] yeah just like from the very beggining how long would it take until you'll get your surgery?

Answer: Actually, brain cancer is probably the better descriptor, but conventionally, people call it "brain tumor". To be more descriptive, a primary malignant neoplasm of the brain parenchyma is typically called a "glioma". There really isn't a set time frame from diagnosis of a glioma to surgery. If the tumor is causing mass effect and impinging on critical areas of the brain, then a surgery may be done emergently and usually within hours. If not, then an appropriate amount of time to do the work-up carefully usually takes days to weeks. The best imaging modality as the previous poster described is an MRI of the brain, with and without contrast. Sometimes, if the diagnosis is questionable, then a biopsy prior to a surgery to resect the tumor is indicated. If a tumor is low grade, then a surgery to remove it may not be necessary, and management maybe placed on hold until there is evidence of progressive disease. Really, the answer is complex, and specifics would depend on each individual case.

Question: Dad just had surgery to remove cancer from brain stem? He came out of surgery and still has not gotten feeling in his left side. The right side came back pretty quickly even before he came out of recovery. The surgery was this morning and was over right around noon. Is now after 7:30 is he ever going to regain left side?

Answer: This must be very hard for you. My heart felt prayers for you and your family. I think it may be too soon to tell when he will regain feeling. I don't know the answer to your question but my gut response is that feeling on and use of the left side may take a while to come back. I am an acupuncturist who works with stroke/Parkinson's patients who have had brain consequences from those kinds of injury. Sometimes after a stroke, function and / or sensation of the affected areas comes back very quickly. But if it does not come back quickly, there is considered to be a two year window of time during which scalp acupuncture may help restore sensation and movement. So if all that your dad wants to come back does not come back promptly, talk to your neurologist about the possibility of interventions including possibly physical therapy and acupuncture to help him. The rule of thumb for stroke is that the MD's must be sure the bleeding has stopped and that one waits at least two weeks before starting acupuncture. Other than that it is considered desirable to start as soon as possible. I hope you dad recovers fully and quickly. Best wishes.

Question: 15yr old boyfriend has brain cancer and needs surgery again? He had a brain tumor the size of a golf ball, and that was removed a few years ago with multiple surgeries. Lately his migraines have gotten worse so he went to the hospital and got an MRI, turns out the cyst in his head has grown and he will have to have more surgery. The surgery is extremely risk, since the cyst is in the middle of his brain. He is only 15, and even though he is strong i can tell he is scared. He knows im there for him no matter what, and that i will do anything for him, but what else can i do to help ease his mental pain? Im scared too, he told me and we both started crying. The doctors are trying to see if there is anything that they can do to postpone the surgery, but they are certain that they will need to perform it sooner rather than later. Any ideas to help him? anybody else gone through this? anything will help. thanks, i love him so much and all i want is to see him happy and healthy

Answer: of course you are both afraid of what you are facing. stay strong for him and continue to love him and care for him. listen when or if he needs to talk and keep a really positive attitude. i believe in God and that is the only way that i personally would be able to cope with this. i wish you all the best.

Question: Is brain cancer and breast cancer hereditary? My mother originaly had breast cancer, she did surgery but now its back, to the brain, is it hereditary to men?

Answer: Very sorry to hear about your mother. Cancer is rarely hereditary; fewer than 10% of cancer cases are hereditary. And breast cancer is no exception; only 5-10% of all breast cancer cases are hereditary. There are two rare inherited faulty genes known to be responsible for hereditary breast cancer, BRCA1 and BRCA2. If your mother's breast cancer is due to her carrying one of these rare genes, then you have a 50% chance of having inherited that gene. If you were female, inheriting the gene would mean a 50-80% lifetime chance of developing breast cancer. For a man who inherits the gene, the percentage is much lower - single figures. But if your mother is the only person in your family to have had breast cancer, it isn't hereditary. A sign that breast cancer MAY be hereditary within a family is when several members of the same side of the family have had it, especially if some have developed it at a younger than usual age. Breast cancer (and any other cancer) diagnosed after the age of 50 is even less likely to be hereditary. Brain cancer is also rarely hereditary; but your mother doesn't have brain cancer, she has breast cancer that has metestasised to the brain. My best wishes to your mother.

Question: Johnny has cancer, Susie needs brain surgery; to hell with praying! Atheists unite...? ...to fight to reduce the hindering influence that religion has on medical technology. Don't you think this is better than praying?

Answer: There are no Christians in hospitals.

Question: Brain Cancer in a Chernobyl victim, young 19 year old girl needs surgery ASAP but has no money for it any hope My cousin in the Ukraine was recently diagnosed with a brain tumor, after the doctors previously diagnosed her with high blood pressure. Now that the doctors actually know that she has a brain tumor, and since they didn't realize it before, the tumor has gotten big and needs surgery as soon as possible. According to my aunt they need $4,000 for the surgery, my family doesn't have this money, and I am hoping that someone may know what to do. Are there any programs/groups/associations that may be able to help her? Again, she is in Ukraine and I don't know if the American Cancer Society would be any help, and I haven't been able to find anything else on-line? Please if anybody has any other ideas or knows what else can be done. Please leave an answer. Thank you and God Bless!!!

Answer: There are several organizations that will help with victims of the Chernobyl disaster. Contact The Chernobyl Children Project USA for help and advice. Chernobyl Children Project USA http://www.ccpusa.org/ Chernobyl Childrens Project International http://www.chernobyl-international.org/ Chernobyl Children’s Project UK http://www.chernobyl-children.org.uk/ There are other groups too concerned about the plight of these people and may be willing to help or direct you towards someone to help. Good luck. :-)

Question: my brother in law is in surgery right now.they found 2 brain tumours, cancer in the lungs, and also in his? kidneys.im not sure how things will go but im hoping for a few prayers from around the world to help us throught.thanks everyone.

Answer: That is extremely sad. I will keep him in my prayers.

Question: My mother- inlaw has brain cancer and was told with out surgery she would only be here 8 months.With chemo,rad and new drug it might be longer.My gram died with breast cancer years ago and I know of other people who have died after getting all the treatments.I know how sick the chemo and rad. can make you and I feel that I would rather live my 8 last months not so sick. It has only been 2 months and she is now in hospital with her brain so swollen or the cancer grew faster then the treatments.My husband and his father made all the choices for my mother-inlaw and she was told that this would cure her.I feel that she should have been able to make her own choices! I have not seen her in the last month due to she has already made comments that she thinks she is dying but not to tell dad.I don't think she should be lied to.I want to see her but if she ask any question I don't want to lie.Im very upset with the fact that every one made choices for her and now at 2 months she is hospitalize,can't walk,sick all the time and might not make it to much longer.should I go see her and lie?

Answer: I'm not sure she was lied to. Perhaps she was given the options from a bit too optimistic view. Others sometimes are in denial and clutch at any hope not to face their impeding loss. I'd go see her and if she asks your assessment, tell her you are concerned, but hope the best for her.

Question: My little brother is having brain surgery on tuesday...? He has medulloblastoma which is a type of brain cancer. During his last surgery they couldn't remove all of the tumor because it's in a weird spot in his brain, so they're going for a different approach. I'm not that worried about him.. he's a trooper. But if you were a 7 year old boy.. what would you want as a gift? I need some ideas.. keep it under $200 please. Thanks! He's very adventurous. He likes video games. Although, I'm not sure if he'll be able to play for a while.

Answer: Is he going to be in the hospital for a while b/c of the surgery? If so, maybe a nice blanket, or a poster to hang up, to make it more like home. My brothers love Knex. MP3 player, there are nice ones out there in the $50-75 range.

Question: the best country and the best doctor for brain tumor surgery? My friend's sister had a surgery for breast cancer and now she has a brain tumor. She lives in Albania and does not have money. I really feel sorry for her. Only thing I can do is to find the nearest country or doctor that is best for brain tumor surgery. Please, please advise me!

Answer: I can only offer my sympathy. Why don't you phone some of the big London hospitals and ask to speak to the secretary for brain surgeons and find out about them and them book an appointment for her. It Willl be expensive though as I think she wil have to go private. I wish her all of the Best and God be with her and God bless you for trying to help.

Question: Do brain surgeries usually go well? My boyfriend's mom was diagnosed with brain cancer and her surgery is this week. They're taking out the brain tumor and said that it is possible that the whole left side of her body will be paralyzed. Do brain surgeries usually go well and do you think she'll heal from the surgery without any complications? She's had different types of cancer before and has made it through it all. She's very strong.

Answer: What you are stating here is not really making a lot of sense. Generally people don't get different types of cancer; it's not like an infection that eventually goes away. If she had one type of cancer, then all her other cancers were the same cancer, just spread. It's called metastasizing and now it's spread to her brain. It seems if drs were concerned she'd be paralyzed, they would do chemo or radiation first to shrink the tumor size. Most people who have brain tumors excised, aren't paralyzed afterwards. My brain surgery went very well, as did others I've met that have also had brain cancer.

Question: Brain Cancer 4th degree Last Stage: HELP? My friends mom is suffering from Brain Cancer and its a Degree 4 Cancer and she is at the last stage of it. She has already undergone two brain surgeries. Doctors have no answer now. PLEASE tell me if there is still something that can be done. Can she be somehow saved. PLEASE help! She is on death bed. I cant see my frend in this state becoz of the pain he is going through seeing his mother suffer. Is there any doctor/specialist/patient/wellwisher who can help me with this. No Details here. Just a small note of great thanks to all of u. I will mail Yahoo! and ask them to add a column where I can thank the people who reply to my questions. Thanks to u all.. Love u all.Bless u

Answer: I wish I could tell you there was a way to save her but unfortunetely I don't think there is. My dad died of a brain tumor and he fell into a coma towards the end. It's been 21 yrs. since he died and you would think that they would have come up with something to save people from this dreadful cancer. You could check with Johns Hopkins where I live in Baltimore, they do experimental surgery's on people and sometimes seem to save them or prolong their lives. Brain cancer is a horrible way to die. My dad suffered really bad and nothing seemed to help. I didn't want him to die but as his cancer progressed I couldn't wait for him to be at peace and stop his suffering. I wish you luck and I pray for your friends mom. If she is in her last stage it's really not much more that could probably be done.

Question: My husband (N.C.) has brain cancer. Is it legal for his boss to ask questions about his health status? He was demoted right after he had surgery for the cancer. We think they are trying to force him out of his job. Is it legal for them to ask questions about his health problems? My husband has never missed a days work for anything, especially the cancer. When he needs to go to the doctor or when he had his surgery, he took his regular days off to do it. He was never written up or anything until he had his surgery, then he was demoted twice.

Answer: An employer may ask certain types of questions, but not others. The employer may generally ask questions that are work related, but not about specifics of the illness. The employer has a right to confirm whether or not the employee is really sick or capable of returning to work. They may require a letter from the attending physician for this purpose. This is obviously necessary when the employer is paying for sick days, disability insurance, and/or health insurance. If the employer is paying for health insurance, then obviously the insurance provider has full access to all medical information and files regarding the employee. Patients do not have absolute privacy when they work for someone else. Whether this is good or bad is another matter.