Brain Tumor Pituitary Gland

[efq]

My friend was diagnosed with having a brain tumor on/near the pituitary gland a few weeks ago. She is a out going person and takes it on the chest, has had radiotherapy and now has a head rag on. (Because she has lost all her hair)

She is only 25, healthy and so on but I was wondering how serious is it and what are the chances of her.. dying from it... I don't want to ask her myself, although she goes "If I live, I think I will have children" and I was like don't talk like that.

Anyway she said she has to check in a few months to see if the radiotherapy worked.

She hasn't changed at all (except she has no hair) but nothing else has changed, how she acts, what she does nothing has changed.

I just want to know if anyone knows how serious it is and what are the chances of her dying from it. I just really want to know because she is on my mind a lot.

[kk.]

Hard to say. No one here knows how progressed it is, as in size and how far it's spread.

Sorry, though

[efq]

She had been going for scans all her life as she was born a few weeks early. She gets broken bones all the time and shes diabetic.

But she said it had only come on around spring. The doctors said it hasn't spread anywhere other than the pituitary gland.

[cocaine]

brain tumours are generally reasonably difficult to get rid of. it depends how big it is, if its spread and how well she will respond to radio/chemotherapy. i doubt surgery would be an option as its the brain. sorry to hear the news though :(

[RandomManJay]

Your pituitary gland controls many things in the body such as hormone release etc. if its damaged in anyway it can be dangerous to your body. Any tumor within the brain is very serious as many times it's difficult to remove through sugery without causing severe brain damage. If the therapy is working well and the tumor shows sign of reduction its a good sign that she'll recover, although there is no guarentee I'm afraid. The worst thing which could happen is if it is Cancerous because it means that its is next to impossible to remove tumors due to growth and chance of spreading and infection, so its essentially fatal unless, like I said above, the therapy is working.

I know whats its like having a friend going through this, my uncle has brain cancer and had multiple tumors :( it wasn't nice, sorry. I would just say hope for the best, if she is looking better go with it as a sign that she could recover.

[efq]

brain tumours are generally reasonably difficult to get rid of. it depends how big it is, if its spread and how well she will respond to radio/chemotherapy. i doubt surgery would be an option as its the brain. sorry to hear the news though :(
She said when they check in a few months, if its still there they will operate.

I just did a bit of googling and found that the gland is on the front of your head and can sometimes be easy to operate. Which refreshed my mind to when I watch this Live Surgery on Channel 4 a few months ago, they operated on a pituitary gland live. So I hope hers is like that and that easy.

Thank you anyway :)

[cocaine]

She said when they check in a few months, if its still there they will operate.

I just did a bit of googling and found that the gland is on the front of your head and can sometimes be easy to operate. Which refreshed my mind to when I watch this Live Surgery on Channel 4 a few months ago, they operated on a pituitary gland live. So I hope hers is like that and that easy.

Thank you anyway :)

ahh right okay :) thats good news then.

[efq]

I hope so, just hoping. But it's amazing how she took it, she told me before she even told her family so I will keep supporting her. I take her to the hospital when she gets check-ups, regular thursday cinema visits. I would expect her to be upset but she's like 'I'm not going to let it get me down, theres no point me wasting time weeping over it because at the end of the day, if I die from it, atleast I made the use of as much time as I could instead of crying about it"

I do hate it when she talks like that but she nothing changed with her, plus when I took her in the doctor asked me if I was a close friend with her a lot and I said "yeah", he goes "Keep a look out for signs on her body, such as hands, feet looking bigger, or cheeks getting larger or any sign of masculine figure. At the moment she has none of these which is odd but a good sign but if you notice any then could you please tell her to book an appointment"

She isn't weak or anything either, if anything shes got even more funny. The other night so woke me up about 4am by storming around screaming 'AhhHHH cramp' and it was the funniest thing I must of seen in my life.

[Yoshimitsui]

I don't think anyone on here is fit to make any sort of judgement on the circumstances having not knowing the conditions and also due to how complex it is. It will be different from person to person and even then you know how unpredictable things can be.

You should maybe speak to someone who knows about the details and ask them or in some form ask her what the doctors have said about it, not necessarily bringing up the direct question of 'is it life threatening' or something similar.

[efq]

Your definetly right, I was just asking to see if anyone had a rough idea although it could be really unaccurate.

I will ask the doctor alone next time I take her to the hospital, I just don't want to hear it from him if you get what I mean incase it's what I don't want to hear... I see it on the net and I take it the positive things but the negative thing people say you block out because you make an excuse of they don't know nothing... I guess it's just me wanting to hear the positive, surely natural.

[Grippz]

I don't really have anything else to add to what other people have said so i just wanna wish your friend luck and i hope the treatment she is receiving goes well. Let us know how she progresses

[efq]

I don't really have anything else to add to what other people have said so i just wanna wish your friend luck and i hope the treatment she is receiving goes well. Let us know how she progresses
Thank you and I will do, a few months to go and we'll know..

[Accipiter]

:( my cousin died of a tumour in 02, i didn't know the details of how long she was through it, but im pretty sure it was detected early on, and it was in an unoperatable place in the brain (could have caused brain damage) not that the tumour was anyway. But she lived a good last few years. And you friend might seem normal now but my cousin deteriated over a year or so and had to be in a wheel chair. the family is holding a charity raising event this weekend, so it'll be helping you friend :)

but some can be operated, others can't depending on where it is. And i dunno if im wrong but i thought chemotherapy was to detect the tumour not to cure it?

[RandomManJay]

:( my cousin died of a tumour in 02, i didn't know the details of how long she was through it, but im pretty sure it was detected early on, and it was in an unoperatable place in the brain (could have caused brain damage) not that the tumour was anyway. But she lived a good last few years. And you friend might seem normal now but my cousin deteriated over a year or so and had to be in a wheel chair. the family is holding a charity raising event this weekend, so it'll be helping you friend :)

but some can be operated, others can't depending on where it is. And i dunno if im wrong but i thought chemotherapy was to detect the tumour not to cure it?

Its basically poison thats injected into the body that hopefully will kill off the tumor and Cancer before it kills you, the chances of dying through chemo are low though cause you're white cell count and everything are checked regularly to ensure your immune system can protect your body while it kills off the tumor, and the amount you are given and the periods you given it are all calculated to ensure you don't suffer for it.

[efq]

Like I said, the doctor said the pituitary gland is the most common one they operate on because its right at the front of the head. So I hope it doesn't spread elsewhere.