Lindsay
04-06-2007, 01:13 PM
Hi there! My name is Lindsay and am 25 years old. My husband and I live in VA Beach.
Slightly over a year ago, I was referred to a neurologist b/c of the ear pain and headaches that I was experiencing. After a neurological exam, he sent me to have an MRI. The morning after the MRI he called and told me to come to his office with my husband asap.
At his office, my neuro told us that the MRI showed "lesions" on my brain that were tumors and that I needed to see a neuro-surgeon immediately. The brain surgeon scheduled me for a craniotomy to remove the tumor, which I was told to be a tennisball-sized mass in my right frontal lobe. Two weeks later, I was in the hospital having a craniotomy to resection the tumor. He was unable to remove the entire tumor due to its partial location on a motor pathway.
Later, an oncologist reviewed the surgical findings and my MRI images and told us that I had a low grade form of oligodendroglioma. He went on to refer me to the Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Center at Duke b/c they have more experience with brain tumors than he does. After receiving my medical records, I was diagnosed differently with grade 3, oligo-astrocytoma.
Following the diagnosis, I underwent 7 weeks of high dose radiation and low dose chemotherapy (Temodar). When I finished that, I began a 10 month cycle of high dose Temodar.
As of now, I have 2 more cycles of the higher does Temodar. However, after my last check-up at Duke, one of the doctors recommended spending a year taking a drug called Tamoxifen. For the last year, I have had a difficult time tolerating the Temodar and am hesitant to start another medication that might make me just as sick.
Have any of you had any experience with Tamoxifen? If so, I would love to hear your feedback on the side effects you've experienced and your thoughts on its effectiveness in preventing the tumor from growing back.
Thank you in advance!!!
~lindsay
Slightly over a year ago, I was referred to a neurologist b/c of the ear pain and headaches that I was experiencing. After a neurological exam, he sent me to have an MRI. The morning after the MRI he called and told me to come to his office with my husband asap.
At his office, my neuro told us that the MRI showed "lesions" on my brain that were tumors and that I needed to see a neuro-surgeon immediately. The brain surgeon scheduled me for a craniotomy to remove the tumor, which I was told to be a tennisball-sized mass in my right frontal lobe. Two weeks later, I was in the hospital having a craniotomy to resection the tumor. He was unable to remove the entire tumor due to its partial location on a motor pathway.
Later, an oncologist reviewed the surgical findings and my MRI images and told us that I had a low grade form of oligodendroglioma. He went on to refer me to the Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Center at Duke b/c they have more experience with brain tumors than he does. After receiving my medical records, I was diagnosed differently with grade 3, oligo-astrocytoma.
Following the diagnosis, I underwent 7 weeks of high dose radiation and low dose chemotherapy (Temodar). When I finished that, I began a 10 month cycle of high dose Temodar.
As of now, I have 2 more cycles of the higher does Temodar. However, after my last check-up at Duke, one of the doctors recommended spending a year taking a drug called Tamoxifen. For the last year, I have had a difficult time tolerating the Temodar and am hesitant to start another medication that might make me just as sick.
Have any of you had any experience with Tamoxifen? If so, I would love to hear your feedback on the side effects you've experienced and your thoughts on its effectiveness in preventing the tumor from growing back.
Thank you in advance!!!
~lindsay