Gliomablastoma Brain Tumor

Fontadonna · New User Joined: 27 Jun 2006 Posts: 8 Location: NYC

Does anyone know what the signs are for someone dying of a Glioma "multifocal" tumor? My Mom now is having difficulty in swallowing her meds and I am wondering how much time I might have with her. She's not getting out of bed now and she's just a weak kitten.

apasciuto · Regular Joined: 30 Jun 2006 Posts: 12

hi,

i can't answer your question, but do have one for you...a friend of mine who is only 33 years old was just diagnosed with the same sort of tumor...any information on what you have gone through, what helps, and what i can expect would be greatly appreciated.

thanks so much...my thoughts are with you!

Fontadonna · New User Joined: 27 Jun 2006 Posts: 8 Location: NYC

My Mom was diagnosed on February 7th, 2006. The doctor told me 6 months to live. Believe me, I panicked and we told her the diagnosis. It was very hard for her to digest this being that she has lived 80 years in perfect health. Never drank, smoked etc. We did do 6 weeks of external beam radiation. It did shrink the initial tumor considerably but because of her age these types of tumors grow so rapidly which is exactly what this tumor did. Even with the radiation she still grew 6 more tumors. I do know with younger people and depending on where the tumor is they can operate, do radiation and chemo with tenodar (sp).

My prayers are with you and your friend. Believe me its shocking, depressing. Keep your chin up. I do know its hard. My prayers are with you both!

apasciuto · Regular Joined: 30 Jun 2006 Posts: 12

thanks for the info -- i really appreciate it...my friend is scheduled for a biopsy surgery in the beginning of august, and then they'll decide what to do next (radiation, chemo, etc.).

i guess all i can do is be there for her! but, talk about bad timing -- to add to this, i'm leaving town today to go be wtih my mother who is dying of ovarian cancer! i think she only has about a week or two left to live...i can't believe this is happening all at once...ugh!

thanks again...strong thoughts and hugs to you.

Fontadonna · New User Joined: 27 Jun 2006 Posts: 8 Location: NYC

Why are they waiting a month for the biopsy? I find that very upsetting. With brain tumors its about time! Where is your friend located? Good luck with you Mom. Is she on hospice? My Mom is now starting to be in a lot of pain so it's about pain management at the moment. Lots of goodbyes. I have had a headache for 2 days now. My thoughts are with ya! HANG IN THERE!!!

apasciuto · Regular Joined: 30 Jun 2006 Posts: 12

hi again

my friend scheduled her surgery for the beginning of august...she's spending the next month doing stuff to get ready for the surgery...i think she wanted some time to take a deep breath and get ready for it all...they think she's had the tumor for several years, so i guess they thought waiting another month would be ok.

and she's in san francisco, ca, so she's got some great doctors.

today was a tiring day with my mom...she tried to pull out her IV tubes (her pain meds) and leave the hospital -- i had to try and get her back in her bed...then she spent the afternoon throwing up...ugh! i hope tomorrow will be better for her...then once the hospital gets her stabilized we'll bring her home & have hospice help.

thanks for being there -- this helps me a lot!!

apasciuto · Regular Joined: 30 Jun 2006 Posts: 12

p.s. -- i totally forgot to say:
i hope you're doing well too!! hopefully you've got the headache taken care of...and hopefull your mom is comfortable as well.

take a deep breath, take care, and know that many people out there are thinking of you.

Fontadonna · New User Joined: 27 Jun 2006 Posts: 8 Location: NYC

Sometimes with Glioma tumors they do grow very slow with younger people. And yes, they can have them for years before they show their ugly side to us. With older patients they grow rapidly. My Mom only had one tumor and did the 6 weeks of external beam radiation but by the time radiation was over and you hang on to hope before you go back and get your next scan to see if the tumor shrunk... but for my Mom by that time came around she was still so weak on the left side and not improving and we found out she had 6 new parts to the initial tumor. So in a matter of 3 months it grew that fast! Yesterday she said her goodbyes to relatives and it was hard on us all. She was in a lot of pain so we gave her the big guns and got her to be quiet and finally restful. I have to say that hospice is such a great help to us. Especially me because I keep thinking that I am going to overdose her, undermedicate her and just do something wrong. Our nurse assured me that to overdose her it would take a heck of a lot more than what she's getting.

Let me know how your Mom is today. What are her moods like? And how are you feeling? Do you have help with this? By the way, my name is Barbara Smile

apasciuto · Regular Joined: 30 Jun 2006 Posts: 12

hi barbara -- i'm allison.

it's good that your mom got a chance to say goodbye to everyone -- i'm sure that helped her feel better. is she comfortable today? i hope so.

and i do have help here -- i flew in to help my dad take care of my mom...and my sister is coming in next weekend so we'll all be together...hopefully having 3 people here will ease everyone's stress levels a bit, and also help my mom be happy that the whole family is together.

it's also nice to hear hospice is so good...that's what everyone says, so i'm glad we have that as an option.

i'm off to the hospital now to see my mom (my dad is already there -- i stayed behind this morning to take care of some yard & house work for my dad).

thanks again for your kind words -- you're a big help! Smile

Fontadonna · New User Joined: 27 Jun 2006 Posts: 8 Location: NYC

Nice to meet you Allison,

All was not good today with my mom. She did get to say good bye to my husband, Jaime. He works for ABC Sports on the golf tour at the moment and he's getting ready to leave for 6 weeks. I don't know if I told you but I also have 4 1/2 year old twins. My life is so busy that I finally put myself on an antidepressant today. Believe it or not, I FEEL SO MUCH BETTER! I can hold the world on my shoulders if need be.

What happened today was my mom, Beverly, her pain was so bad this after noon that when I gave her her morphine (waited 30 min.) it didn't seem to help. Then I gave her a diloded (30 min.). Still no help. Then I called the hospice line and they told me to add another duragesic patch (fentenol) and give her another hit of the morphine. Goodness. I thought we'd kill her just with this amount. But they told me (hospice) that the doses are small and that now I might have to give them every 2-3 hours. At least when I got home she was finally sleeping. So just so you know this is what it comes down to. They will sleep and at least be comfortable.

The hard part is that I live an hour away and I have kids so its tough to be there 24/7. I live in Hoboken, New Jersey. Have you ever been?

I tell you I do hope that when you need to you will give hospice a call. They really help calm you down. Another factor is that even with all the help at your house (soon to be coming) you still might bicker and your stress level might be the same. They can even bring a social worker to help sort things out. We needed this because my Dad was not dealing well and neither was my brother. But that is how MEN ARE!

Good luck to you and now I will think of you in my thoughts as well as my prayers.

Much kindness to you,
B

apasciuto · Regular Joined: 30 Jun 2006 Posts: 12

i'm sorry to hear your mom was in so much pain...but like you said, now that she's resting, she's feeling better.

i'm sad to say that my mom died at 1.10am today...we stayed with her from 9pm last night until she passed...i think she died rather comfortably, so that's nice to know...it was somewhat sudden, but it's for the best -- her body wasn't happy living anymore.

whew...i'm exhausted...more later.

and hugs to you & your family!!

Fontadonna · New User Joined: 27 Jun 2006 Posts: 8 Location: NYC

My dear Allison,

I don't know what to say! I am so sorry. My email address is Fontadonna@aol.com. Please send me a note when you can. All my thoughts for you and your family,

Most sincerely,

Barbara
PS Big HUGS TO YOU

apasciuto · Regular Joined: 30 Jun 2006 Posts: 12

thanks again for your kind words...it's amazing what a few messages from a "stranger" has done for me...you've given me strength, and i'm so thankful for it.

i believe that you must be a truly strong person from all the help you've given me...so i'm confident you'll be able to help your own family in the same way, even if at times it all seems hopeless.

remember that i'll be thinking of you often...and you can contact me at:
allison.pasciuto@gmail.com

goodnight...

jackiekeefe · Regular Joined: 26 Oct 2006 Posts: 17

[quote="Fontadonna"]Does anyone know what the signs are for someone dying of a Glioma "multifocal" tumor? My Mom now is having difficulty in swallowing her meds and I am wondering how much time I might have with her. She's not getting out of bed now and she's just a weak kitten.[/quote]

i happened to see this post when searching for any time of information that i could get on this Gliomablastoma multifocal tumor that my father was just diagnosed with, it was told to us yesterday as a second primary cancer. He also has bild duct cancer which we thought had metasized to the brain but upon surgery come to find out this tumor on the brain was also a primary site, so they could not remove much of the tumor because of location and how embedded it actually was. Have you ever heard of someone having 2 cancers.

jackiekeefe · Regular Joined: 26 Oct 2006 Posts: 17

i added my message to someone's else message by a accident!

i am new to site and does not know what to do!
can someone help me to read replys

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