He Knew Something Was Off
- Wisconsin-native Greg Berry was 59 when he began suffering from memory loss and back pain, symptoms often dismissed as old age. Then he was diagnosed with brain cancer.
- Luckily, because he caught it just in time after a second opinion, he is here to tell his story.
- Whether you are currently fighting cancer or fearing that you might have it, it's essential to be your own advocate. Tell your care team what you feel and raise anything that may feel off to you.
Luckily, because he caught it just in time after a second opinion, he is here to tell his story.
Read More“I remember being wheeled into the hospital. Then there is a black hole in time,” Greg said, noting how grateful he is for his care team. His doctors and nurses became a second family to him as he battled the disease at the height of the pandemic.
The husband and father recently went back to thank everyone who took care of him. Greg had also been suffering from obesity prior to his scary health battle, and has since been motivated to “eat cleaner” and lose weight.
“I hope by talking to me someone else who is maybe in a similar situation can be inspired to do something positive with that situation,” Greg said.
Dr. Khan urged viewers that if they are experiencing any unusual symptoms, don’t stop questioning until you find out what it is, which is a message we share continuously at SurvivorNet.
Advocating for Yourself
Whether you are currently fighting cancer or fearing that you might have it, it's essential to be your own advocate.
When working with your medical team, tell them precisely what you feel and raise anything that may feel off to you. Every symptom should have a plan to address it, and if you feel like you are not being heard, continue to push and seek a second opinion if your concerns are not being addressed.
Be Pushy, Be Your Own Advocate … Don't Settle
"Every appointment you leave as a patient, there should be a plan for what the doc is going to do for you, and if that doesn't work, what the next plan is," Dr. Zuri Murell, director of the Cedars-Sinai Colorectal Cancer Center, told SurvivorNet in a previous interview. "And I think that that's totally fair. And me as a health professional that's what I do for all of my patients."
The only way to know this is to continue to push for answers, telling your medical team exactly what you are experiencing and demanding that you receive the best treatment for your specific situation.
Symptoms of Brain Cancer
In Greg’s highly intense situation, he fortunately got the immediate treatment he needed because he knew that something was off. As with many types of cancers, people may experience various symptoms or none at all. Since his type of tumor was more rare, it was potentially harder for doctors to initially pinpoint what was going on.
Most often, it is probably not brain cancer, but there is always a chance that there could be something else very serious happening. It is best to at least get it checked out as many times as needed until you get to the bottom of whatever is causing your symptoms.
To be on the safe side, these are the types of symptoms that you should normally be aware of when dealing with a potential brain cancer diagnosis:
- Headaches
- Seizures
- Difficulty thinking and/or speaking
- Changes in personality
- Tingling on one side of the body
- Stiffness on one side of the body
- Loss of balance
- Change in vision
- Memory loss
- Nausea
- Disorientation
- Fatigue and muscle weakness
- Anxiety / depression
Not All Brain Tumors Are Cancerous
Naturally, a lot of people think "cancer" when they hear the word tumor. However, most brain tumors aren't actually cancerous. Less than one third (about 32%) of brain tumors are considered malignant (cancerous), according to the American Brain Tumor Association.
If a tumor is made up of normal-looking cells, then the tumor is benign. But these tumors may still require treatment, such as surgery. Because of this, they are often referred to as "non-malignant," since the word benign can be misleading.
The most common type of non-malignant brain tumors are meningiomas, however, there are 120 different types of brain and central nervous system tumors, according to ABTA.
Oftentimes after an MRI, a biopsy will be performed on a brain tumor to determine its type. Sometimes, the results of imaging tests show that a tumor is likely to be non-malignant, and a biopsy is not necessary.
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