I can honestly say i do not know what i will do if one more person tells me that I’m “lucky” because my brain tumor is ‘just benign’. Slap them? Karate chop them to the neck? Or, perhaps take the more rational approach and simply have them read the statistics and research done on benign brain tumors…and then generously give them the much needed opportunity to change their previous (and quite frankly irrational) conception on how “lucky” a person is to have a benign brain tumor, rather than a malignancy. In all actuality, who in their right mind would utter the word lucky in the same sentence as brain tumor anyway!?
Naturally, I understand the term benign is generally a much more appealing diagnosis and the prognosis is nine times out of ten very good. However, when it comes to brain tumors, everything is different.
A brain tumor, for starters, can be consisted of a multiplicity of things; anything ranging from tissue and cells to hair, nails, and fat. Gross, I know, but true. brain tumors do not discriminate….scary thought…..some types of brain tumors are more common in children, some in adults, and there are a vast amount of different locations in the brain to acquire such tumors. All locations having different symptoms associated with them, thus making it even more difficult for a proper, and rapid, diagnosis. Although there are ‘risk factors’, truth be told there hasn’t been adequate funding for any type of actual brain tumor research that would indicate if these risk factors are really something we should consider, or simply words on a paper to scare us.
Now…a benign brain tumor is in fact noncancerous. Yay! Right? Normally, you’d be jumping up and down and going crazy inside with excitement that, although have something inside your brain that obviously is not supposed to be there, it’s not ‘technically’ hurting you because the cells composing this tumor are normal and thus noncancerous. With this type of diagnosis, assuming the tumor is small enough and no symptoms are currently present, the doctor will normally do what is called “watching a waiting”. Exactly like it sounds. annual mri’s (magnetic resonance imaging test) will be done, usually with an inject of the non-radiation dye called gadolinium into your arm via IV (which apparently, current research by the fda has shown, decreases kidney function and causes nephrogenic systemic fibrosis! so before each mri they will draw blood to test your kidney function and ensure you can excrete the dye properly) to watch for any tumor growth.
So for starters…although a benign tumor patient could potentially not have symptoms when diagnosed, or for a while after diagnosis….they are routinely undergoing tedious and painfully loud mri’s and being exposed to harmful dyes just to see if it’s grown……all the while having a constant worry regarding the unwelcome guest in their brain.
If surgery is recommended…many things are considered. Primarily, tumor location. a tumor in a region of the brain that is easily accessible or that doesn’t have major life functions associated with it, like the frontal lobe which is the center for personality and emotions, can be operate on much more readily than a tumor in a more dangerous location, like the brain-stem which controls heart rate, breathing, and consciousness to name a few.
If a patient, like myself, has a benign tumor on or anywhere near the brain-stem, surgery itself is often times more risky than the benefits of reducing the symptoms caused by the tumor. However, if the tumor grows, which benign brain tumors do–just slower than malignancies—then it could impede the brain’s functioning, breathing, and speed up or slow the heart rate to such an extent that death is immanent.
Another sought after treatment option for benign brain tumors is radiation to shrink the tumor, thus reducing symptoms caused by the little boogers presence in the brain (which inevitably causes increased intracranial pressure).
Benign brain tumors, can also become malignant with time. The reason for this is still unknown (due to the lack of funding for brain tumor research). They can reoccur after they’ve been removed, and often times (due to location once again) can be just as dangerous if not more than malignant brain tumors. benign brain tumor faq.
If you still want to tell me and all the other patient’s out there suffering the same symptoms that brain cancer patients do, coping with similar stress (although I am very well aware cancer is definitely a whole different ballgame), having the same worries, undergoing the same treatments, and occasionally (varying by patient and location of the tumor) having the same prognosis….that we are “lucky” that our tumors are benign….perhaps you should take a stroll to your local hospital, go to the neurology wing, and meet some of the patients who have recently undergone brain surgery to remove or resect a tumor. After speaking with them about their symptoms and worries…..then ask them if their tumor was benign or malignant.
Perhaps then it will hit you. This is not a competition between who has it worse. This is simply a statement, that everyone deserves to be treated equally and with the same amount of empathy regardless of whether or not they have cancer. Patients need not to be discriminated against or poo-poo’d as seemingly less important, if they have a brain tumor…no matter what kind, type, or location.
List of sources:
The Food and Drug Administration-“Information on Gadolinium-Containing Contrast Agents” –www.fda.gov
National Brain Tumor Society- “brain tumor FAQ” – www.tbts.org
