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Not knowing where the brain met is (and not being a neurosurgeon) makes it hard to recommend a course of action but, I can give you some thoughts on what you might expect based on my experience.

I had a single 1cm brain met show up at the beginning of my stage 4 battle in 12/2010. It was in the bach of the brain near the skull. Because of the location of the met, a neurosurgeon was able to perform a craniotomy on me to surgically remove the tumor. I was in the hospital for less than 48 hours. This surgery was followed up a few weeks later with some precise radiation to the tumor bed to make sure all the melanoma was dead. This was done as outpatient but took most of the day.

I should say that of my five surgeries, this was the easiest one for me and the hardest one on my dear wife and caregiver. It sounds horrific but I recovered quickly and had very little pain. A lot depends on location of the met. Your surgeon will tell you what to expect in terms of loss of brain function before you consent to the surgery or radiation.

You should also view the webinar on Brain Radiation by Dr. Veronica Chiang at the Melanoma International Foundation website. You and your husband may find some good info there.

Good luck.

Cltml

Not knowing where the brain met is (and not being a neurosurgeon) makes it hard to recommend a course of action but, I can give you some thoughts on what you might expect based on my experience.

I had a single 1cm brain met show up at the beginning of my stage 4 battle in 12/2010. It was in the bach of the brain near the skull. Because of the location of the met, a neurosurgeon was able to perform a craniotomy on me to surgically remove the tumor. I was in the hospital for less than 48 hours. This surgery was followed up a few weeks later with some precise radiation to the tumor bed to make sure all the melanoma was dead. This was done as outpatient but took most of the day.

I should say that of my five surgeries, this was the easiest one for me and the hardest one on my dear wife and caregiver. It sounds horrific but I recovered quickly and had very little pain. A lot depends on location of the met. Your surgeon will tell you what to expect in terms of loss of brain function before you consent to the surgery or radiation.

You should also view the webinar on Brain Radiation by Dr. Veronica Chiang at the Melanoma International Foundation website. You and your husband may find some good info there.

Good luck.

Cltml

Not knowing where the brain met is (and not being a neurosurgeon) makes it hard to recommend a course of action but, I can give you some thoughts on what you might expect based on my experience.

I had a single 1cm brain met show up at the beginning of my stage 4 battle in 12/2010. It was in the bach of the brain near the skull. Because of the location of the met, a neurosurgeon was able to perform a craniotomy on me to surgically remove the tumor. I was in the hospital for less than 48 hours. This surgery was followed up a few weeks later with some precise radiation to the tumor bed to make sure all the melanoma was dead. This was done as outpatient but took most of the day.

I should say that of my five surgeries, this was the easiest one for me and the hardest one on my dear wife and caregiver. It sounds horrific but I recovered quickly and had very little pain. A lot depends on location of the met. Your surgeon will tell you what to expect in terms of loss of brain function before you consent to the surgery or radiation.

You should also view the webinar on Brain Radiation by Dr. Veronica Chiang at the Melanoma International Foundation website. You and your husband may find some good info there.

Good luck.

Cltml

Has your wife had radiation to the throat?

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Has your wife had radiation to the throat?

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Has your wife had radiation to the throat?

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you may be experiencing inflammation in the chest. have you tried taking ibuprofen? my onc had me do this when I started experiencing sharp pains like you describe. 600 mg (3 tablets) is the dosage where I was told to start. Thats an over-the-counter dose so no prescription is necessary. The relief was immediate and lasts about eight hours.

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you may be experiencing inflammation in the chest. have you tried taking ibuprofen? my onc had me do this when I started experiencing sharp pains like you describe. 600 mg (3 tablets) is the dosage where I was told to start. Thats an over-the-counter dose so no prescription is necessary. The relief was immediate and lasts about eight hours.

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you may be experiencing inflammation in the chest. have you tried taking ibuprofen? my onc had me do this when I started experiencing sharp pains like you describe. 600 mg (3 tablets) is the dosage where I was told to start. Thats an over-the-counter dose so no prescription is necessary. The relief was immediate and lasts about eight hours.

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I have two large mets in my lungs and was having coughing problems.  I found out by serendipity that an opiate that I had left over from a previous surgery helped to knock out my cough.  I know that codeine is derived from opiates, but don't know if all opiates are off limits for you

My cough was so intense last fall that I started pinching nerves in my back.  In order to sleep one night, I took a couple of norco pills that I had left over from my craniotomy.  I took two more in the morning about 10 hours after the first and realized later in the day that I was not coughing.  After working with my oncologist and experimenting for awhile, I found that oxycodone worked as well, but allowed me to avoid the acetaminophen.

It has continued to work for me since then, although I do still have some productive coughing fits brought on by my lungs trying to clear themselves out (I assume).  They typically last about five minutes and I have 1 or 2 a day.  Very manageable.

BTW, I also take Singulair (10mg) once per day.  I don't know if that has anything to do with thecough relief that I have experienced.

Let me know if you have any questions.

cltml

I have two large mets in my lungs and was having coughing problems.  I found out by serendipity that an opiate that I had left over from a previous surgery helped to knock out my cough.  I know that codeine is derived from opiates, but don't know if all opiates are off limits for you

My cough was so intense last fall that I started pinching nerves in my back.  In order to sleep one night, I took a couple of norco pills that I had left over from my craniotomy.  I took two more in the morning about 10 hours after the first and realized later in the day that I was not coughing.  After working with my oncologist and experimenting for awhile, I found that oxycodone worked as well, but allowed me to avoid the acetaminophen.

It has continued to work for me since then, although I do still have some productive coughing fits brought on by my lungs trying to clear themselves out (I assume).  They typically last about five minutes and I have 1 or 2 a day.  Very manageable.

BTW, I also take Singulair (10mg) once per day.  I don't know if that has anything to do with thecough relief that I have experienced.

Let me know if you have any questions.

cltml

I have two large mets in my lungs and was having coughing problems.  I found out by serendipity that an opiate that I had left over from a previous surgery helped to knock out my cough.  I know that codeine is derived from opiates, but don't know if all opiates are off limits for you

My cough was so intense last fall that I started pinching nerves in my back.  In order to sleep one night, I took a couple of norco pills that I had left over from my craniotomy.  I took two more in the morning about 10 hours after the first and realized later in the day that I was not coughing.  After working with my oncologist and experimenting for awhile, I found that oxycodone worked as well, but allowed me to avoid the acetaminophen.

It has continued to work for me since then, although I do still have some productive coughing fits brought on by my lungs trying to clear themselves out (I assume).  They typically last about five minutes and I have 1 or 2 a day.  Very manageable.

BTW, I also take Singulair (10mg) once per day.  I don't know if that has anything to do with thecough relief that I have experienced.

Let me know if you have any questions.

cltml