Brain tumor and cancer in Right Frontal Lobe.
Biopsy or Pathology indicates "Anaplastic Astrocytoma" Grade 3 out of 4
sometimes abbreviated as "AA3"
(at age 33)
Symptoms I had been experiencing that summer and fall 2002 were:
Shortness of breath
light headedness
fatigue
mild seizures
Numbness in left hand and
sometimes left face (sometimes with drooling)
Fighting to catch breath
Unable to talk
Seizure duration: usually under 1 minute.
I was able to stand during seizures by steadying myself on a counter or wall. Never lost consciousness.
90% of them occurred within 10 minutes of waking up.
This was going on for months, the seizures didn't seem that bad to me and I never thought they were seizures. I thought it was just some weird side effect of an anti-inflammatory drug (Vioxx) I was taking for a back problem. So I felt like I should just live with it.
Eventually the seizures became frequent enough (about 4-5 per week) and feelings of fatigue great enough that I could no longer ignore it. My doctor had me get an MRI and that revealed the problem.
Tumor Resection -
that is brain surgery to physically remove the tumor
at Duke University Medical Center
on February 28 and March 6, 2003