Brain Cancer

[adramos22]

My 36 yo sister, who is in the Philippines, has been diagnosed w/ oligodendroglioma per CT scan. After an MRI it was found that the tumor is encompassing almost 1/4 of her left frontal lobe. Though a Neurosurgeon's opinion has not yet been received, a Neurologist told my family that her cancer is now inoperable. Pressure in her brain is building up as she is now more and more complaining of pain on the left side of her head w/ increased pressure in her left eye.
Can someone please shed light about this type of cancer? Is it really inoperable or can something be done? What is the prognosis on this kind of cancer?
Any information would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!

[LoveYouDad]

I believe when a brain tumor is inoperable, they can still do surgery to determine what kind of tumor it is and the best way to treat it. Although they cannot remove the tumor through an operation, they can still treat it with radiation and/or chemotherapy. There are risks with this surgery (biopsy I believe it is called) however. You can skip the surgery and still get radiation treatments. BUT you really need to talk to a doctor to talk about the risks involved with the decisions that need to be made, and talk to your sister about how she wants to proceed. My blunt advice is this ... talk to her now and ask all of the very tough and uncomfortable questions now, while she can still talk, while she can still understand you, while you can still communicate. Time is of the essence. The time will likely come when you can no longer communicate even though she can see you and make eye contact.

I think for these kind of inoperable brain cancers the prognosis is typically 3 months to a year, depending on how aggressive the cancer is. My dad was diagnosed with this completely out of the blue in December 2007, and in January 2008 they said he had about 6 months to a year, and he passed away on May 24th. Things went very fast. Nothing was as I had expected or hoped. BUT.... there is always, ALWAYS hope. Don't ever give up hope. =) Some people beat it. I pray your sister is one of those people. =)

If you have any questions please feel free to post, I'm happy to share any information I can. I hope this has helped in some way.