right side carotid tumor of neck right side pontine lesion of brain

Question

i'm a 34 yr old woman i have a carotid  tumor  on my right side artrey branch of my neck....they did a mri of my neck and found a pontine lession on the right side....what would cause me to have both these tumors...i been haveing very bad headaces i fell once i cant remember  my speach is messed up at time  my neck jerks all day alot they are sending to a doctor to make sure its not ms...it is taking mons for all this im have my tumor on my necked removed i 3 more weeks....i just worried about the lesion on my brain noome is real answering any of my qouestions could you please help

COBOB · Accepted Answer

The tumor and pontine lesion may not be connected.  It might be best to let them remove the tumor and determine its nature, and talk to a neurologist about the lesion.   The two could very well be independent events and it will take you medical team to figure that out.  Since you said the lesion was discovered on an MRI, the trick is to understand what sequences the lesion is seen on (T1, T2, FLAIR, PD, etc.)

Bob

mzgaither · Answer

hello i wanted to update on my status...on april 8 i had my carotid tumor removed from neck...now i have been seeing a ms doctor up university of maryland hospital...i been seeing him alot...did all the test so far but the spial tap thats next...i this is driving me not knowing.....if it not ms what could this be....my head still hurts all the time...my ears having sharp pains my eyes are seeing spots all the time ....we did more mri and i still only have 1 pontine lesion on my brain stem ....just always wondering and the not knowing and all the pain i just need answers

mzgaither · Answer

thank you both so much i go for surgey in 3 weeks

jujuminx · Answer

I had a tumor of the parapharyngeal (sp?) space removed when I was in my 20's (that is the space near the base of one's brain near the larynx (sp?).  At the time I remember asking the doctor what caused this (less than 1% of neck tumors are in this area), and he said, they had no clue (and he was considered a leading surgeon of neck tumors at the time).

I would say the lesion and the tumor are unrelated but don't know that for sure. It doesn't really matter anyway as your most pressing concern is getting the tumor removed. Thankfully, most neck tumors are benign but that doesn't mean you should wait to get it taken care of.  You are well young enough to be able to get thru the surgery BUT make sure you have a doctor very experienced with removing neck tumors.  There is a lot of potential for damage in the neck area and you want an expert!

Once that it taken care of, deal with the lesion (s) and following up on that dx.

Good luck!

Julie

summerluvr · Answer

Have you seen a surgeon to have the tumor biopsied?  I am a cancer survivor so I know how scary it is and your mind just goes to all the what ifs.   Another board I post on they say "don't borrow tomorrow's problems".  So focus on getting through one thing at a time!

mzgaither · Answer

it started awhile ago i been have real bad head and neck pain back pain i fell i been forgetting everything my neck keep twiching i lost 15 lbs my hands and feet are tingles and numbness the doctor said he is sending me to ms doctor i just dont no what all this really is have a tumor in my neck and  brain lesion

COBOB · Answer

One infratentorial MRI lesion.  How many attacks and how far apart? The number of lesions is not really diagnostic.  The number of clinically isolated attacks more than 30 days apart are what make the diagnosis.  The MRI lesions support that diagnosis.  A single infratentorial lesion could mean quite a lot but it depends on your symptom timeline and the neurologic exam.

Bob