by Shawn
My mom became dizzy suddenly on June 17, 2011. Because of a minor history of Meniere's (ear balance issue), there was no great concern immediately. Her PMD prescribed steroids which gave no relief. She was referred to a Ear, Nose, Throat doctor in late June who confirmed Meniere's exacerbation. This was followed by a second and same ENT opinion. My dad put my mom in the hospital mid-July because of his concerns that she could injure herself from falling due to ataxia. Three MRI's were then done over 10 days and read as a cerebellar stroke by the radiologist and neurologist. Physical rehab was recommended. A few days after the last MRI my mom became confused. At this point I flew home and had her transferred to a major medical center. Within a few hours they confirmed a brain tumor was pressing on her fourth ventricle, which was causing the confusion. She immediately had a brain hemorrhage which required surgery for a hematoma evacuation. The next day 70% of an egg-sized tumor was removed. The pathology report showed Diffuse Large B Cell Lymphoma. On August 5th the Hem-Onc doctor told us "these patients are alive for years, the remission rate is 80-90%". My mom's tumor was a primary, her PET scans and bone marrow were clean. She had one round of high dose methotrexate and was discharged to rehab. The following week she had a second brain hemorrhage. On October 5th, two months to the day from getting a fabulous prognosis for a terrible diagnosis, we were having her Celebration of Life memorial. Since then I have learned that Primary CNS Lymphoma is fairly rare, is typically found in AIDS patients and is becoming more common in healthy-immune system people. Prior to the onset of symptoms my mom was a vivacious, working senior. Miss you, mom....until we meet again. Would love to read posts from others who know about or have been dx with this type of brain tumor.
