POEMS syndrome & glioblastoma

Nurses General Nursing

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I just thought I'd share with you guys my experience today.

Today was my 4th clinical, I'm in my first semester in nursing school and we are working on the oncology floor.

I witnessed two rare diseases today: POEMS and Glioblastoma.

The patient with Glioblastoma was well enough to tell us about her condition. She said that her doctor told her that there are only 5 people in the NATION that have this, and they have all been told they would live only one more year. This patient has lived for three, and she looked perfectly healthy. Her reason for being admitted was a recent seizure. If I understand correctly, glioblastoma is a brain tumor and is treated with radiation and chemotherapy. She told us today that 98% of the tumor is gone. I think that's incredible.

The patient with POEMS syndrome was actually the patient I was assigned to. My instructor couldn't really tell me much about the disorder, so I looked it up when I got home. I found out that it is a multisystem disorder that is apparently extremely rare. This woman didn't look terrible, but she did have a hard time expressing herself due to a recent stroke. I don't know much else about this disorder. I just thought it was interesting that I saw two extremely rare diseases in the same day, and I thought I would share.

If anyone has any extra information about either of these, please share. I'd love to learn more about it. :)

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Specializes in Hospice.

I am not sure if the information on glioblastoma you were told is correct. They are actually the most common form of brain tumor. Perhaps it was the location of hers, or some subset of glioblastoma that made her's so rare.

I work in hospice, and so I take care of pt's dying with glioblastoma. The progression is similar to other brain tumors, except the patients are usually fairly young (30s-50s). They loose coordination, speech ability, strength, and eventually become comatose and pass away.

This probably is not that helpful, but I have seen a few glioblastomas.

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Maybe I'm mistaken (it's certainly happened before) but I thought glioblastomas were one of, if not the most common type of brain tumor?

I'm not trying to contradict you or be a jerk, I'm saying this because either I'm mistaken, or perhaps that patient had a specific type/manifestation of GBM that is extremely rare. If it's the first, well then I'd like to know so I won't make the same mistake and if it is the second then I would be just as interested as you in learning more about it.

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I definitely could be wrong, I'm not sure what made hers so rare. But our clinical group was told that it was rare, it could have been the location.

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If you manage to find out why it was rare, let us know. That's why I love this site, I get to learn about things that I'm unlikely to ever encounter in within my own area of specialty!

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Specializes in Trauma Surgical ICU.

I just took care of a pt today that had a gliob tumor remover a few weeks ago from the brain. I haven't had a chance to look it up yet tho..

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Specializes in Trauma Surgery, Nursing Management.

I work with a neurosurgeon who specializes in brain tumor resection. We operate on glios about once a week.

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Specializes in LTC Rehab Med/Surg.

Could it have been Gliosarcoma?

Oncology is not my specialty and I may have this wrong. Gliosarcoma is a Glioblastoma, but there is something rare about the histology of the cancer. :confused:

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Specializes in Peds Homecare.
http://www.mayoclinic.org/poems/ According to the Mayo Clinic, Poems, is very rare. Maybe you mixed the two diseases up.
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Specializes in Professional Development Specialist.

I had a glioblastoma pt this week. I would be very interested in what part was rare about the etiology of your patient. I'm still a new nurse and love learning. The pt I had was heartbreaking and I was very grateful I don't specialize in oncology.

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I don't have class again until Tuesday, but I sent my instructor an email asking her if she knew what made it rare, or if i'm just getting this mixed up. I will let you guys know what I find out asap. Thanks for pointing out the mistake. :)

But I'm right about POEMS sydrome, correct?

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Ok guys, I found out what made it rare:

"The survival rate past one year is not very common, and she has lived 3 years. It is just very progressive and does not respond well to surgery/chemo/radiation."

That is what my instructor sent me, so it's not the TYPE of cancer, just the fact that she has lived so long past it, and the radiation responded well for her. Hope that clarifies things. :)

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