My daughter Leah......

[lemmonpie]

My daughter Leah has been diagnosed with a grade 2 astrocytoma. This is the most devastating event in my entire life. She was diagnosed 2 years ago and has had full brain radiation and is now on temador. She was started on temador based on her weight in the beginning and a few months later it was doubled then tripled. She does the one week on and three weeks off regime. She tolerates it pretty well. The first 3 days are the worst then she gets a little better until she is finally finished. She has MRI's about every 6 months. The last one in December showed a new "hot spot" and they want to do a repeat one in February to see if it has changed. Then they are considering avastin or gama knife if needs be. Her oncologist has not wanted either of these until she is bad enough for them. I think that is wrong and they should be tried BEFORE she gets too bad. She is 34 and married without children, which is a blessing in disguise. Her oncologisst is consulting with a specialist at Oregon Health Sciences University and also a specialist at University San Fransisco Calif. She is young and attempts to keep her life as normal as possible. She has a good job and rarely calls in sick. Her presenting symptoms included headaches and localized seizures in her left arm.  Her tumor is growing up thru the corpus collosum and is therefore inoperable. Why wouldn't a physician want to start promising drugs or therapies if there was a possibility she would reap the benefits? What is the record of length of time someone has survived a grade 2 astrocytoma? The thought of loosing her is incomprehensible to me. I do not allow myself to think about it because I loose it BAD!! I don't know what I will do when this happens. What kind of prognosis do you see for my sweet girl? Has anyone on record beat this monster? I would give all I own to take her place. I would do anything to find a cure for her. I appreciate your response. Thank you.....Linda


This discussion is related to Grade II Astrocytoma- treatment.

[India63]

The doctors are  afraid  if surgically removed, it may return as a higher grade tumor.

[worldcitizen]

First, I want to say I'm so sorry to hear of all you've been going through. I know you put this post up a long time ago, but because no one has responded I thought at least make a few comments/suggestions.

How was your daughter diagnoses? MRIs are commonly used, but it can be difficult to know for sure what type of lesion is present. Did she have any kind of a biopsy? Any PET or MRS?

Grade 2 is by definition slow-growing, and therefore not cancerous. There is some debate about the appropriate use of surgery, radiation, and chemo. Who do you have as doctors? A neurologist? A neurosurgeon? I hope you are collaborating with more than one, not just an oncologist. Really, chemo is uncommonly used at the initial diagnosis of grade 2, especially if no biopsy first confirmed the nature of the tumor.

The good news is that she is still young, which improves the prognosis. It's hard to know how it will progress, but first it's important to verify what you're dealing with.