I posted a very short time back - presenting the symptoms my son was having at that time. Sean has since had an MRI/MRA (Thursday). Shockingly, we were told that Sean has an 8mm tumor on the left side of his brain. He will be having surgery next week, and I am so scared! I can't explain the pain in Sean, our family, right now. Because I am not up to posting long detailed threads at this time, I am wondering if anyone has any familiarity with any one of these 3 types of tumors, these of which the radiologist has put as the 3 possible conclusions: oligodendroglioma, pilocytic astrocytoma, ganglioglioma. Thank you.

Hi
I know how frightening it is to hear the words you have heard regarding your son. I don'thave any info on those types of tumors, but wanted to let you know that I had a tumor removed from my brain this past Wednesday, and came home from the hospital on Friday. THe anticipation or the surgery was intense and frightening to think about. But I went through it fine and had very little pain upon waking afterwards. At this point I don't even know what type of tumor I have, although they suspected it was a metastasis.
I just want you to know that surgery today is very precise and the doctors do amazing things. So as scary as it is, just knowing that it can be removed is a good first step. I will keep your son in my prayers that the surgery will be
as easy as mine was.
Blessings!
Faith

Thank you for your reply. Have you found out what type of tumor you had? And was it a metastasis? If so, from where? The 3 tumors I listed are primary tumors (originating in the brain), and we will not find out which one for sure until we receive the pathology report - hopefully on Saturday (Surgery this morning, Friday, at 6:30am).

I hope that you are doing okay. Take care.

I certainly will hope and pray for the best possible outcome.what hosp is the surgery being done at.just wondering.I am sure you have gotten him a great NS.hopefully once this is removed,your life will be able to get back on track.i know how it is believe me.everything else just kind of goes on permanent hold til things get better.i will say a prayer for him and for your family as well.i wish you all the best this morning.please let us know how things are going when you can.good luck,marcia

Your Son and the Family will be in my thoughts and prayers.

God Bless!

Hi there - I hope all went well with your son's surgery. My son had a tumour 2 years ago aged 17. His was a large (4x3.5cm) pilocytic astrocytoma. He had emergency surgery to save his life (hydrocephalitis was at critical stage). Prior to diagnosis, all he had were short sharp stabbing pains in the back of his head - which became more severe if he lay down. The pains, which he described as the most intense agony ever, only lasted very short durations (most times just seconds) but were enough to make him writhe in agony. He only ever got them after physical activity, like football training, basketball, riding bike etc...so docs kept telling him they were JUST exertion headaches. One night (Tues 22 feb 05) he got another attack, however this time the pain would not go away, he screamed out to me in agony and began to throw up excessively, he could not walk and was stumbling, crashing into hallway walls. Then he was extremely lethargic and just wanted to lie down. Immediately i knew something major was wrong as he was always a physically fit and healthy young man. This episode..from feeling fine and laughing at a tv program to extreme agony and passing out...was a whole of 15-20 minutes. That is how sudden it attacked him. I had to physically try to carry him to the car (why i didn't get an ambulance i have no idea - panicked i guess and wanted to get him to hospital asap) docs helped me to get him inside of hospital as he was barely conscious and too heavy for me to do myself, by this stage his lips had ballooned out, his head literally swelled and his eyes were shifting rapidly side to side. He was rushed to another hospital 45 mins away at 2am and operated on virtually immediately upon arrival. They didn't think he'd make it as was in critical condition. After 8 long and stressful hours in the operation - he made it into instensive care..and 5 days later was RELEASED from hospital. 3 months later he was back playing football and basketball. And although he still has residual tumour cells in the cerebellium (sp?), he has an MRI every 6 months to keep check on them. Other than that he is fit and healthy. My understanding is that pilocytic astrocytoma is a slow growing tumour, and that he would of had it for a number of years, yet displayed no symptoms (apart from short headaches..as in a couple of seconds to a minute each) a couple of times a day for approx six months prior to surgery. Admittedly, the short sharp pain in head was getting more frequent in the days before the major attack. Again docs brushed it off as exertion headache. It was the hydrocephalitis that brought matters to a head and actually it, rather than the tumour, put him in critical condition at the time, and only because of the sudden hydrocephalus symptom did they find the tumour. (Mind you a catscan months earlier could of prevented the medical emergency situation my son endured...) - Anyway, now the tumour is removed, hopefully all will be well. I truly hope your son is doing well as well. Best Wishes to you and your son... I fully understand how you must be feeling at this time, all i can say is be strong and I wish you all the best. Cindy