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.
PS
– Here’s a link to the Inspire
website on-going conversation: http://www.inspire.com/groups/american-brain-tumor-association/discussion/statistics-on-meningioma-growth-rate/?reply_sort=asc&page=1#replies
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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