Husband diagnosed with Glioblastoma just before retirement!

[Sandylil]

Hello. My husband was diagnosed with Glioblastoma just before his 66th birthday in May this year. He has had surgery, Radiotherapy and Chemotherapy . He is about to start the 6 month course of Chemotherapy in a couple of weeks. Our daughter lives in NZ and has been very upset about her dad.

I have read through the comments made and they have been very encouraging.

It is a hard journey!

[Choochootumour]

My husband is 66 and retired in April but was diagnosed 3 weeks ago and with a probable stage 4 glioma. He is 4 days post op. I’m hoping when biopsies come back we can go into radio and chemo but have no idea how long radio but am clueless as to what radio therapy will be like. Does head have to be in a clamp? How long is each session? How awful is it?

[Starcatcher1 in reply to Choochootumour]

Typically, if he is physically well enough he will have thirty sessions of radiotherapy, probably with a lower chemo at the same time. The thirty sessions of radiotherapy will be Monday to Friday for six weeks. He will have his own special mask made for him which will then be used to hold his head in exactly the right place for the radiotherapy. From memory (mine was early 2018) I think the session was about 10 minutes, but I’m not sure if everyone is the same. The mask does seem a bit restrictive to start with, but it doesn’t hurt, and you get used to it after a little while. Hope that helps a bit.

[Tansi75 in reply to Choochootumour]

I support what Starcatcher1 has said to you.Your husband will have to visit the hospital a couple of times to have his mask made and check that it fits correctly before treatment. The best thing your husband can do is to relax during the radiotherapy treatment. As with MRI scans I always concentrate on my breathing, close my eyes and relax, it is the same with radiotherapy.

What my wife and I did, because of the distance we had to travel for the hospital appointments, was to turn some of the trips into a mini-break and stayed at our favourit hotel in Manchester. Obviously with COVID, times have changed, but it is something you may wish to consider. It helped to cut down on travelling, especially if the appointments were early or late and meant we could relax and enjoy ourselves by doing a bit of shopping or going to a show in between treatments.

Take every day one at a time and do not waste time looking up how other people have responded to treatments. We are all individuals, so the effects of a brain tumour will be different for each one of us. It is important to stay positive and believe you can both get through this together.

I was diagnosed with my grade 4 glioblastoma in May 2010.

I wish you both well, and hope this helps. If you have any questions, please just send a reply.

Stay positive, safe and well.