Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Meningioma Recurrence Rates 10 – 30%


If you’ve had a meningioma brain tumor, know somebody who’d had a meningioma brain tumor or read the on-going concerned dialogue on the ABTA’s Inspire website about meningioma recurrence, you know that recurrence is a concern.

Actually, “concern” is an understatement. The emotions that come to mind when I read the community’s dialogue on this subject range from fear to distress to apprehension.

My own trepidation (nervousness? disquiet? alarm?) increased significantly when I read that the recurrence rates are somewhere in the range of 10 to 30% on the Neurosurgical Medical Clinic site: http://www.sd-neurosurgeon.com/neurodiseases-meningiomas.php

I mean, really, most of the Chicago Cubs starting position players hit on the low side of that range.

This statement also spooked me “However, even with total excision, recurrence rates of 10% to 30% are reported, depending upon the length of follow-up.”  Yikes! The-Good-Doctor (my exceptional neurosurgeon) was only able to snip out 70% of my tumor. Does that make my odds of reoccurrence higher? (Say, something to Wilt Chamberlin’s free-throw shooting percentage?).

The site goes on to note that “Multiple meningiomas occur in 5% of patients…” Acwwk! I had enough trouble with one extra-large tumor, I can only imagine what would happen if I had multiple meningiomas.

I think what this all means, for me, is that I need to stop scaring myself with all these potentially nasty outcomes and do something much more calming, like watching Axe Murderer 5: Now Sharper Axes.


Image credit: <a href='http://www.123rf.com/photo_6003153_x-ray-human-head-with-cerebral-tumor-in-brain.html'>eraxion / 123RF Stock Photo</a>

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