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To Patty for Leticia,
My sister, age 48, was diagnosed with bc mets to the brain in Oct'04 - her symptoms were headaches and some difficulty with vision. She had a craniotomy to remove the largest lesion, and the other three lesions were small enough to treat with whole-brain radiation. We were all amazed at how well she recovered from the surgery. The most difficult part for my sister was not the surgery or the radiation, but learning how to cope with the side effects of the steroid decadron (which is essential to reduce swelling both before and after surgery & radiation to the brain).
The 3 remaining lesions were almost entirely eliminated by the WBR, but then began to grow again by February. She participated in the Lapatinib clinical trial, which has been working very well at shrinking/eliminating brain mets for some women, but it didn't work for my sister. She went back on Herceptin, and since it has been keeping the rest of her body clear, her neurosurgeon said he wanted to try to remove all 3 remaining lesions (which were observed originally in Oct. -- no new mets since then). She had her second craniotomy in May, had all 3 lesions removed, and again her recovery was remarkable. She then had Sterotactic Radiation to the cavity areas. She did not have any problem with seizures after either craniotomy.
At this point in time, her nerosurgeon says there is No Evidence of Disease in her body, her headaches are gone, her vision better, she looks great, and she is slowly getting her energy back after the fatique of post-radiation. She is still every bit herself, even after 2 brain surgeries. We saw a bumper sticker that made us laught today on our way in to her Herceptin appt; I couldn't quite remember the wording tonight, and when I called her, she remembered it exactly, and she's the one who's been through strong chemo, radiations, and two brain surgeries!
I sincerely hope Letitia's surgery went well today, and that my sister's story gives her hope for a very positive outcome. God bless you both.
Marianne
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