top of page

Symptoms So far

Our dad's brain tumor has produced a variety of symptoms so far, with new ones arising. The thing about brain tumors is that the symptoms differ based on where the cancer is located and what part of the brain it is affecting. Our dads is located behind his left eye in the center of the left side of his brain, with tendrils coming off going across the midline and corpus callosum, to the other side of his brain. This is why they deemed it inoperable.

Our dad's first symptoms were signs of confusion trying to follow the plot-lines of shows my parents have always watched and loved together. He had trouble focusing on the tv and his eyes would feel tired. He started having pain and vision changes in his left eye. They went to an eye doctor thinking maybe he was having an eye problem and my mom thought maybe he wasn't following the shows because he couldn't see well. Weeks went by and my dad became more confused and a pain began to radiate from his left eye up his skull and down his neck to his shoulder. This same eye is where he was going blind. He said he thought these things were just part of growing old so he was just trying to deal with it. He decided to go to the ER to get checked out because he started to feel like he didn't know where he was or what he was doing and was very dizzy. We are so glad he did and you should too if these symptoms happen to you.

Since finding out about this (almost a month ago now) the changes we have seen in him have been increased confusion, increased short term memory loss, increased vision loss, increased pain, and anxiety.

He also feels like he needs to keep his eyes closed. He will have them closed a lot of the time and we will remind him to open them and when he opens them he says, “whoa! I keep forgetting I can open my eyes and then I do and there’s a whole world out here!” And then he will often begin closing them again shortly after that. We had the eye doctor do extensive imagining on his eyes after we found out about the tumor and were told it’s not an issue with his eyes. They confirmed his new vision loss is caused by the tumor in his brain, so changing his glasses prescription won’t help.

A newer symptom that just arose last week is he feels like he doesn't know how to swallow. The part of his brain that tells him how to swallow is being affected. When he does swallow it is very hard for him and takes a lot of concentration and time. While he eats he says, "I can't believe i'm swallowing! I know I am, but I can't even feel it", etc.

I will say our dad still has his good moments and is constantly making us laugh with that sense of humor of his, even through this terrifying thing he’s experiencing. He has absolutely inspired everyone around him including the nurses, surgeons, and doctors who have been helping us. This cancer has had very up and down symptoms where one moment he can seem okay and the next he isn’t, but then he goes back up again at some point. We aren’t sure if this is due to his brain swelling and healing from the craniotomy biopsy or the tumor itself causing this up and down throughout the day.

 We are working constantly on helping with these symptoms and helping him feel safe, comfortable, and loved every moment of the day/night.

Suggestions always welcome to help with these symptoms! Leave comments!

Donations go to his wife, Frances Young:
Zelle/Apple Pay :: 520-808-0081
Venmo :: Fran-Young-12



1 Comment


Guest
Sep 18, 2024

❤️

Like

Subscribe for blog updates

bottom of page