Does the whole world have brain tumors?

My mom has a brain tumor – here are the facts: it’s a meningioma, and was diagnosed initially in the 1980s or early 90s. The majority of meningiomas are benign, or relatively harmless, since they grow slowly. That’s been true of hers. She probably told me when she learned of it; but strangely, I don’t remember it, possibly because she downplayed its significance. Most people who have a meningioma die with it and not from it. But it’s grown over the past 20+ years to about 2.5cm in size and evidently needs attention now. Just because a tumor is not cancerous or rapidly growing doesn’t mean won’t be troublesome. Mom has developed symptoms with vision and balance that probably are tumor-related.

The meninges are the membranes that surround your brain and spinal cord; and a meningioma can occur anywhere in the membrane. Mom’s is located near her occipital lobe, the region in the back of the brain where vision is processed, among other things. Following a consultation with a neurosurgeon near her home in Downey, she visited yesterday with Linda Liau, the UCLA neurosurgeon and brain tumor specialist who did Susan’s second craniotomy in August 2007. Dr. Liau agreed that the tumor has grown large enough to require some kind of surgical treatment. Mom will see another specialist soon to find out whether a gamma knife (radiosurgery) or an invasive surgery would be better. We’re praying for wisdom in treatment and for complete healing, and are asking others to pray for Janet Buccowich as well.

So, does the whole world have brain tumors? My mom is the seventh person with a brain tumor we know among our natural relationships. We’ve met several more brain buddies through the course of Susan’s treatment and learned of others of the celebrity variety like Ted Kennedy and Seve Ballesteros – but knowing seven people including Susan with tumors seems like a lot. It makes you wonder.

Susan is doing ok again this week in spite of persistent nausea and occasional vomiting. She’s nauseous much of the time and needs to summon some composure when it’s time to eat. She does better by having small portions of food throughout the day instead of fewer, larger meals. My latest chats with her oncologist will have us suspending CPT-11 for her next couple of chemo infusions since it’s the nausea culprit. Hopefully, her body will repair during the respite. Today we went up to UCLA/Santa Monica Hospital for a bone density scan, a special x-ray that measures how much calcium and other bone minerals are present and will reveal Susan’s risk for fractures due to osteoporosis. She’s already had fractures in her spine and upper arm, so something’s up. We’ll find out about the scan results in a few days.

My wife is in good spirits today – sassy, teasing, playful. She was dog-tired after we got back home this afternoon, but has been revived by a long rest. Right now she’s barking and growling at Daisy, our Jack Russell Terrier. She sounds pretty convincing, better than I do. I don’t know what she said in dog language, but she got Daisy pretty excited and barking back. They’re having a moment together.