Specialties Neurological
Published Oct 30
Snowchild
12 Posts
Hello,
I have a question for those of you who specialize in neurology and neurosurgery.
My 82 year old mother, who had taken a fall this Monday and seen in the ER, was admitted to the hospital and now that all of the tests/scans have been run and analyzed, the neurosurgeon updated me this morning that she has what they first suspected in the ER, a Meningioma, but unfortunately it's a big, nasty aggressive one that covers pretty much the entire frontal lobe of her brain.
There are really only two options, and they are bad or worse. The bad is proceeding with surgery to remove the tumor, which they feel confident they can do because of the location, but at best it is iffy and despite of course wishing for the best possible outcome for quality of life, there are the definite risks of infection, bleeding, and left-side weakness (her dominant side is the left).
Worse is doing nothing and following the natural progression of end of life.
I am devastated to hear this. I had suspected for some time that there was something wrong with my mom, but she absolutely refused to have any testing done. I never would have suspected this.
Now my 3 siblings and I are meeting tomorrow by Zoom to discuss everything. I am so conflicted. (Just for more information, I am the HCP and POA). She has told me over and over in the past that she NEVER wants to be in a facility and I am afraid if we proceed with the surgery that this could happen.
Also, for more background, I asked the neurosurgeon if my mother has decision-making capabilities, and he let me know he does not think so based on her presentation.
I don't know what to do : (
Rose_Queen, BSN, MSN, RN
6 Articles; 11,911 Posts
Hello, @Snowchild, per our Terms of Service, we do not allow providing or requesting medical advice. Please continue to work with your mother's care team and/or seek a second opinion in how to proceed with her care. Best wishes.
Thread closed.