Prayers needed...

[melody]

Melissa.... I will include you and your family in prayers. Keep positive thoughts...GOD is with you.

[manda0812]

Sorry to hear of this Melissa, thinking of you and your family. Cross fingers it will all work out well

[MelissaH]

So I just talked to my cousin on MSN and basically this is what's going on...not freaking out as much know...it's always so much worse when you don't know the full story, you know? You always think the worst...

 

I'll just copy and paste what he said to me;

 

 

melissa says:

so wtf dude...how did you find out:? it just seems kinda random, u know?

 

Cняιѕ яosέŁŁі ℓιиdѕαу ...Fат●Sqυаd... says:

lmao well ive had these things for about 6 years now and i get dissy and loose my memory for like a minute and i zone out.....and the doctors said its a thing called optic migrains and so we left it at that....so my mom decided that we should go and get it checked this week cuz it happened in front of my mom and she was kinda worried....so we went and they sent me for an MRI and they found some

 

Cняιѕ яosέŁŁі ℓιиdѕαу ...Fат●Sqυаd... says:

sort of growth in the back left part of my skull....close 2 my brain but its not touching and they say that that its not harming anything ....its just giving me these things once and i while so i went for more MRI's 2day from different angles and now we need 2 take the pics 2 a nurologest and decide what it is for sure and decide what were going 2 do about it

 

 

 

So for now they're just playing the waiting game, but he seems totally cool and not worried at all....if it were me I'd be freaking but he's totally calm about it! (And he said that meeting his dad today went great and that they're going to keep in touch so if nothing else, at least something good came out of all of this)

[manda0812]

aah that is good news, doesn't sound as serious although anything near the brain has the potential to be serious. He sounds positive and that is a good thing and as you said, he has spoken to his dad, so this has all happened for a reason... I bet you feel slightly better now, nothing worse than not knowing

[Saraha]

Oh Melissa Im so sorry to hear that. You have had quite the rough one lately. I know this is much easier said than done, but try and stay optimistic, for you and your cousin. No matter the outcome he will need your strength. Please let us know what we can do to help. We will be thinking of the both of you.

[becks]

Hi Melissa! I know this is tough, but stay positive!!! You're in my thoughts and prayers.

 

My sis has a brain tumor that sits on her speech center - she's had it (they are guessing) pretty much since she was a toddler. She has very similar symptoms to what your cousin has - except that they impact her speech. She will just sort of "go blank", and a couple of minutes later, she's back with you and, while she's a little loopy (sort of like when you just wake up from a nap), she's perfectly fine. They call them neuro-motor seizures.

 

She's pretty much fully functional during her seizure, except when it comes to speech - if she's cooking dinner, she continues to cook, etc. The one rule that she and her hubby have is that if she's driving she has to pull over and wait until she's all back to normal - just in case.

 

She's been treated for her seizures (the symptoms) thru medication literally for as long as I can remember - probably since the first or second grade. And the meds are okay - they have gotten better thru the years, and while they aren't side-effect free, she manages just fine. Mostly they impact her short-term memory so that she has to write everything down so she doesn't forget things - like when to pick up her kids from their friends houses.

 

Her tumor is malignant, but very slow growing. They didn't even really identify it as a tumor until she was just out of high school and starting college - sort of like your cousin. She had surgery about 15 years ago and they removed what they could of the tumor from her noggin. The speech center sits right in the middle of your brain, so they couldn't get all of it without doing damage. Then they treated her with radiation - I don't think they use chemo much for brain tumors because the drugs tend not to pass thru the blood/brain barrier in the head. Since then, the use the drugs to control the symptoms. They are thinking in another few years that they'll re-do the surgery just to make sure everything is as clean as it can be.

 

But, the important thing is that sis leads a totally normal life. She graduated college, married, has 3 of the most adorable (and totally healthy) kids you'd ever meet. If in fact your cousin needs surgery, and if his brain geography is correct and the tumor is outside of his brain, they'll probably be able to take most of it with no problems. Plus, if he's been having seizures for several years, it doesn't sound like it's one of those devastatingly fast-growing tumors, which is really good news.

 

If you want to PM me let me know - I'll be happy to put you or your cousin in touch with my sis, her docs or whomever.

 

Big hugs!!

[~Melissa~]

That's rough and it really sucks. I don't know what to say really but I'm glad you can talk to us girls on here. He seems very intelligent and I hope that he can pull through. Your family seems very loving and that's probably the best for him.

[MelissaH]

Just got an update on my cousin today...here's the email from my uncle.

 

Hello all,

 

Christopher was at the Neuro Surgeon yesterday and the prognosis is this; The tumour is deeply imbedded on the left rear portion of his brain and is approximately 2cm X 4 cm (about the size of a walnut). They are wary about doing surgery at this time as they feel because it is so well imbedded it may cause brain damage or lead to paralysis as a result. They have tested him and other than it affecting his sight during his mini seizures he is fully functional!! They are providing him with medication to control the seizure episodes so that he can return to his normal day to day life, such as the freedom to drive continue to play soccer and attend school in the fall etc.

 

It would appear at this time they are going to monitor it and give him an MRI every three months to see if it is still growing. If it is they will decide on a course of action at that time. After hearing the news he is a little happier that they are not rushing to do the surgery and he can return to an otherwise normal life. He and his mom are coming over for dinner tonight and if you have anything you would like me to pass on for you I will.

 

Have a good weekend Tony

[Dbld78]

Well that's not bad news. Can they radiate, on the other hand that might also cause damage as well. They don't want to radiate my mom's tumor that reason, so she'll have surgery. As long as they monitor it they can somewhat predict what's going on. So it's kinda good news!

[ErinB]

Melissa - I'm glad you and the family got some relatively positive news! I'm sure it's a huge relief to jsut have an answer.