symptoms of brain tumors?

[mstlyn]

There are a couple of things about Anthony that I am not over worried about, but is on my mind and it would be nice if the doctor would do an MRI just so we can know for certain.

He won't do the MRI so I decided to address the concern here and see what you have to say.


First, before Anthony started chemo; and after, lung nodules were found on a scan, I asked his doctor about doing a scan to see if anything had spread to the brain.
The doctor told me that at this point that would be "over" testing? He said that the lungs would fill up before anything spread to the brain. Is that right?

Well, I mentioned in here before that ever since Anthony finished his last round of chemo on April 6, he has been vomiting.

He is still vomiting 2 or 3 times a day.

He doesn't feel sick to his stomach, and I explained this wrong the last time I posted about it.

He compares the feeling like when you swallow a pill and it doesnt go down all the way. Like its stuck in his throat.

(before I said the feeling was in his stomach.. I was wrong. Its all in his throat)

This feeling comes on suddenly and causes him to vomit.

We talked to the dr. about it yesterday and he looked in his throat and found some white patches. He said it looks like yeast, and that was probably irritating his throat and causing him to vomit.

I asked him if it was possible that theres a tumor in his throat or neck, and he said no. Mind you, he has not examined him, or scanned his neck or head.

Today Anthony tells me that when he looks up or sideways, he has pain behind his eye. So of course that has me thinking again about possible cancer in the brain.

Would either of these symptoms have anything to do with tumors on the brain, or in the neck?

Should I push the dr. to do an MRI?

You all probably think Im losing my mind ... well, maybe I am.

I need to know that Anthony is ok, though

[emilyalex]

Tammy - I wouldn't want to make you overly concerned, but I would push for the brain MRI, just to rule anything out. As you know, we just found out my husband has brain lesions after finishing High Dose Chemo, and some of his symptoms closely resemble those that I found on the internet for brain tumors, specifically vomiting first thing in the morning even before eating, lack of coordination, slurred speech and motor skill problems. He never mentioned pain in his eyes. I think you are smart to be thinking of this, because it never hurts to be cautious. It's a lot easier to deal with brain lesions/tumors if you find them early. More than likely, it's just side effects of chemo that he is experiencing.

Let me know if I can do anything to help or offer you any more personal experiences to go by.

Emily

[Russell's Mom]

ask for 2nd opinion

Also, not trying to scare you, but the symptoms cannot be guessed at. Another possiblity is a 2nd opinion or consult with a neurologist. Tumor in the brain "can" cause swallowing problems so your concerns are not out of line. We have all seen that TC follows patterns, but it also breaks it's own patterns. These doctors at least owe us peace of mind!!!!! Be assertive! Take care Russell's Mom, Sharon

[Margaret]

I see what the others are saying...a second opinion or calling your dr. to express your concerns is never a bad thing ....but I am worried that you are scaring yourself to death. Maybe call your dr. and talk to him about these concerns because I do not want these worries to take their toll on you.

Hang in there mom! A cure is coming!

[Karen]

Even with taking tumor possibilities out of the picture, you still are dealing with someone who is not in top physical form post-chemo who has been vomiting 2-3 times a day since April 6th. That's a long time. Losing electrolytes via vomiting isn't good either, especially whe the body is in repair mode. I'd push for a scan to look from the diaphragm on up to see what the problem is. No tumor markers is a good sign.

[mstlyn]

Thank you all for responding, and yes I am growing more and more worried as the night goes on.

Anthony did not get up until around 4 this afternoon, and he has thrown up 3 times so far. At first it was once late at night, then it was when he would get up, and again late night; and now it is just anytime during the day or night.

I just can't buy into the idea that yeast would be doing this, and I can't get the oncologist to listen to me.

I am going to call him again tomorrow to tell him how worried I am about this and if he won't listen then I will try to get his urologist to set the MRI up. If that doesn't work, I may take him to the hospital. They probably won't listen to me either.

Anthonys insurance requires permission from the doctor to go to the ER unless it is a life or death emergency, so they may refuse to do an MRI too.

I too feel that the doctors should give us peace of mind. I can understand if testing is a risk to health; but to my knowledge an MRI is not?

What's the big deal with the doctor having it done?

[Already Bald]

I see what the others are saying...a second opinion or calling your dr. to express your concerns is never a bad thing ....but I am worried that you are scaring yourself to death. Maybe call your dr. and talk to him about these concerns because I do not want these worries to take their toll on you.

Hang in there mom! A cure is coming!

Tammy, I agree with Margaret. Talk to your doctor about ANTHONY'S situation, try to avoid reading about all of the other "possibilities" on the internet. Take this one step at a time, and deal with the here and the now.
I do think you should get the MRI and a second opinion just to get closure.
Best,

[Michael112]

Symptoms of a brain tumour are:
Motion sickness
Smelling burnt rubber
migraine wich is worse in the morning and tends to lessen throughout the day.
Loss of balance or walking with a gait.
Among other things which some have already been mentioned, such as swollowing problems.

[mercyriver]

I agree with everyone else. You should push to get an MRI, just to be certain, I can't imagine how it could hurt to be extra concerned when we are talking about a life.

To add a little calm to your feeling I thought I would mention how common nerve damage can be with chemo. And nerve damage can create a whole pile of problems, some you would never think of. Including vomiting. But I really do think you should do what you can to get the peace of mind.

Those little "left overs" after chemo are just nags and nags only do one thing...nag you. They will make you insane!

I hope everythings turns out well for you and you get done what gets you answers.

Becki

[Neals Sister]

I totally agree that you should get a 2nd opinion just because my brother would throw up 2-5 times a day and we just thought it was just because of the chemo and his body getting back to normal but it turned out that the reason why he was throwing up so much is because there were 2 one inch tumors in the brain and it was putting pressure on the brain causing it to slightly swell, in which made him thrown up. This is what the dr's told us. Neal also had a very hard time to keep pilss or any medicine or food down.
He ended up getting seizers from his brain swelling.

I cant believe that the dr told you that his lungs would fill up before it would move to his brain. That guy is a whack.
I hope that you can get you're son in for the MRI ASAP.

Kim

[mstlyn]

Again, I want to say thank you for the responses .. I called my sons urologist a few minutes ago and spoke with Dorrie. Dorrie schedules surgeries for Dr.Bauers patients and she has been the one person that I have been able to talk to about pretty much anything.

She listens well and she has called our house several times while Anthony was in chemo, to see how Anthony is doing. She also is the one that called and told me that as soon as Anthony has his scan to make sure I let her know because she knows someone at U of M that is on constant contact with Dr.s at U of M.. she will be able to set everything up with someone good.

I told Dorrie about my concerns over anthony vomiting, and let her know that the oncologist would not set anthony up to have an MRI/brain done.

She asked .. why not??

Well, she said she is going to talk to dr. bauer (urologist) about this and she will get back to me before she leaves the office today.

I told her that if none of anthonys doctors will set this up for him, I am taking him to the emergency room tonight.

I guess that is about all I can do. I hope the doctor will set the MRI up since that is the only way the insurance will cover it; but if he won't ... oh well .. its off to the emergency room we go.

Thank you for all the information.

I may be over -reacting, and may get those lovely labels that some doctors like to give people that push for things doctors dont think we need; but I can live with that as long as I know my son is being taken care of.

Tammy

[Margaret]

Tammy,

I don't want to sound like a broken record, but I am concerned about you getting too much information on the web and even this site, that is going to create too much anxiety in you. I know how concerned you are about your son, if it were my son I would be a mess, and I would rather you call your doctor and explain how you feel and get some medical advice. I urge you to do this before you worry yourself sick. The internet can be a great tool, but it can also create nightmares when you start to second guess what 'could be wrong'. I just don't want you to go through more stress and worry than you have to. Take some deep breaths and call the doctor and ask for him to explain what he thinks is going on with your son. If he will not help you, ask for a new doctor.

Also, with no tumor markers present...that is a great sign. Our friend, who did have tc move to the brain...had markers that were RISING. If the cancer is spreading the markers should be rising. At least that is based on my knowledge. I am always going to try and focus on the positive and his markers are something, that when you feel full of worry, very wonderful to think about.

I am pulling for you and I hope that you are able to talk to your doctor soon.

Margaret

[Mom]

There is no reason the onc shouldn't order an MRI on the brain especially if it relieves Anthony's and your anxiety. Quite frankly, I would find out how much it costs, negotiate costs, and pay for it myself. I am not sure it is a brain tumor but he should not be vomiting to the extent he is. He could get dehydrated which brings about it's own set of problems. Fight for him. Dianne

[mstlyn]

Tammy,

I don't want to sound like a broken record, but I am concerned about you getting too much information on the web and even this site, that is going to create too much anxiety in you. I know how concerned you are about your son, if it were my son I would be a mess, and I would rather you call your doctor and explain how you feel and get some medical advice. I urge you to do this before you worry yourself sick. The internet can be a great tool, but it can also create nightmares when you start to second guess what 'could be wrong'. I just don't want you to go through more stress and worry than you have to. Take some deep breaths and call the doctor and ask for him to explain what he thinks is going on with your son. If he will not help you, ask for a new doctor.

Also, with no tumor markers present...that is a great sign. Our friend, who did have tc move to the brain...had markers that were RISING. If the cancer is spreading the markers should be rising. At least that is based on my knowledge. I am always going to try and focus on the positive and his markers are something, that when you feel full of worry, very wonderful to think about.

I am pulling for you and I hope that you are able to talk to your doctor soon.

Margaret

Margaret I agree with you that its not good to search for info too much on the web, however I do pay close attention to what people in here say because everyone here has been dealing with the same cancer.

It may be nothing to worry about at all; but as I sat thinking about that, my very next thought was; but what if?

I would never be able to live with myself if the "what if" turned out to be the reality and I didn't push the issue to make sure.

I just think that since this is such an aggressive cancer, and anthonys did spread to the lung; it is better to do the mri and make sure.

I would rather be safe than sorry.

I already got a call back from Dorrie. She spoke with Dr. Bauer and he told her to go ahead and set the test up.

He also said that I should relax, because he thinks the test will be negative because all of anthonys margins are clear(I guess that means the lungs and markers)
She did say that sometimes the insurance may not approve the test and she wanted to forewarn me that if they wont approve it she cant set it up.

She also said she thinks that because of everything that has been going on with anthony, that they probably will approve it. We just have to wait and see..

I do feel better now that someone will listen though ..

Dorrie also said she has left a message with the woman from U of M to get back with her to schedule anthonys surgery.

This is what we need .. to see things being done.

I appreciate your concern that I am making myself sick with worry. I guess it can't be helped. Well, it CAN be helped by being proactive rather than reactive.. this MRI is something we really need.

[mstlyn]

There is no reason the onc shouldn't order an MRI on the brain especially if it relieves Anthony's and your anxiety. Quite frankly, I would find out how much it costs, negotiate costs, and pay for it myself. I am not sure it is a brain tumor but he should not be vomiting to the extent he is. He could get dehydrated which brings about it's own set of problems. Fight for him. Dianne

Yes, if the insurance won't approve it we are going to the emergency room and Im telling them to do it and send me the bill.
I do worry somewhat about dehydration problems too, but I havent seen any signs of that yet.
Any idea what the cost of an MRI is?