Tumour is stable but having seizures

[Cranesbill]

Hello everyone. I’m wondering if anyone has any advice please? My Dad is now 75 and was diagnosed with a GBM nearly three years ago. He’s has done amazingly well and the tumour has remained stable. His speech started to get mixed up at the end of last year and he had a scan which showed that the tumour was still stable. His consultant said that he was probably having mini seizures due to the long term effects of radiotherapy. His anti-seizure medication was upped and he’s not been too bad. However, over the last week his speech has gone weird again and his right arm has lost some strength. We have called the nurse who has spoken to the consultant and she believes it’s the same as before. His next appointment is towards the end of April with her and he’ll have a scan just before. There has been no other advice and as my Mum spoke to them, she did not push for any. I’m going to see my parents tomorrow to see how Dad is. I’m just concerned that he could have had a stroke or is this par for the cause. Any advice or a link to advice of what we can do to help manage the situation would be very much appreciated.

Thank you

[Cedarmarie Community Champion]

Hello, good to hear your Dad's tumour is stable! Not sure I can offer much advice but I'd be encouraging your mum to speak to GP too, might be some reassurance / information they can give re your concerns about potential stroke or indeed some idea of gentle exercises to do to strengthen the arm? My main advice is keep asking questions of the consultants and doctors, I used to go to appointments with my sister as she'd not remember or sometimes not recognise the deterioration since a previous appointment . Very best wishes to you Dad.

[Crochethelps]

Hi my husband has a glioblastoma which was first diagnosed after grand mal seizures. He had surgery and radiotherapy etc and no more seizures for nearly a year. Then January this year started developing focal seizures, as the tumour is stable they also thi k as part of treatment effects. When he has these seizures he also suffers something called Todd's paresis which can look like a strike, weakness down one side of his body, sometimes total paralysis but it dosnt last. It can be fairly common with focal seizures. He also gets something call post ictal psychosis which can affect his vision for a few days. I am a mental health nurse so I've done a lot of reading about thus and that has helped to make sense of it. We also found the neurologist and our local epilepsy nurses really helpful. We like in the UK, York. Hope this helps. Also lots of info on epilepsy uk