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WBR and what to expect

Forums General Melanoma Community WBR and what to expect

  • Post
    B
    Participant

      My wife is getting ready to start WBR and I am curious if anyone on this board has been through this treatment before.   Looking for any positive notes if possible as well as side effects and expectations after treatment both immediate and long term.  Thanks for the help

      My wife is getting ready to start WBR and I am curious if anyone on this board has been through this treatment before.   Looking for any positive notes if possible as well as side effects and expectations after treatment both immediate and long term.  Thanks for the help

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    • Replies
        James from Sydney
        Participant

          Hi our son had WBR after removal of a bleeding Met. He experienced tiredness through the treatment. He also had loss of hair so he decided to shave it all off. At the 6 month mark he was still clear and seemed to have no cognetive loss but Mets  in other parts of his body were too much to handle.

          On a positive note i met a person at a Support Meeting who had a Met removed from his brain followed by WBR and he isstill ok. The WBR was completed in 1994!

          best wishes

          James

          Kevin from Atlanta
          Participant

            I just finished WBR about six weeks ago. Getting the treatments is no big deal. She very well may have to shave her head.

            I still have not been allowed to drive but hopefully that rescrition will be removed this week. Other than fatgue and some short term memory lose, I have had no issues. They say the short term lose goes away with time. She should ask for nusea in advance.

            They do get great results with the WBR.

            bcl
            Participant

              Hi there , Sharyn who posts here regularly had WBR, she is likely off at the cabin so I will copy a post here.

              If you would like to search go to the archived bulletin board on the left, it is a wealth of information. Best of luck to your wife, linda

               

               

              Posted by Sharyn at 02:32 on Wed, May 19, 2010    [Show other posts by Sharyn]

              In Reply to: Re: Amy B -Whole Brain Radiation and IL2 by Val posted at 03:29 on Tue, May 18, 2010

              Hi Dennis

              Well, Val and I didn't meet up as planned (Val I'll call you), but yes, I had WBR last November, followed immediately with Temodar. Side effects? None, except for mild nausea (took metacloprimide), and fatigue, but I'm not sure those were WBR effects or Temodar. No brain dementia at all. Whenever I have what I call a "brain fart" and blame it on the WBR, my kids laugh at me and say I was like that before the radiation, so they don't buy it. But I did lose my hair, and it's now grown out about an inch or so. My deciding factor to do WBR was when one of my Drs emailed me and told me his anesthesiologist colleague had mel brain mets 4 years ago, had WBR, and has been working full time ever since. The risk factors are there, yes, but they occur in such a low percentage of patients. Besides, with this disease, everything is a risk, isn't it?

              If I were Amy, I wouldn't hesitate to do WBR. As for the rest of the plan, I can only say I'm keeping IL-2 as one of my back-up plans. BTW, the WBR got rid of a lot of 1mm spots I had, shrunk a 5mm tumor to less than 2mm, and kept another one stable. However, I've since sprouted 2 more new ones (3 mos after WBR), so I'm in Montreal now for Novalis SRS.

              Give Amy my love and best wishes. Hang in there! She's a trouper!

              Hugs

              Sharyn

              Stage IV

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