Symptoms of Epidermoid Tumors

How did we know something was wrong inside Michael's head?  Well, I'm not sure when we would have noticed had he not gone to the hospital on that fateful day.  But at the rate his symptoms increased following diagnosis, it probably would not have been long after.

The following information comes from Epidermoid Brain Tumor Community website.

Because epidermoid brain tumors grow slowly, they may not cause symptoms or be detected until they have become fairly large.  In the skull base, symptoms can be specific to a cranial nerve being compressed, such as the cranial nerves for smell, taste, vision, facial sensation or hearing.

In general, brain tumor symptoms may include:

• Atypical headaches (Michael has frequent headaches)
• Vision
• Hearing (Michael sometimes feels a vibration inside his ear)
• Dizziness (perhaps Michael's most distressing symptom)
• Seizures
• Sharp pain on side of face
• Facial nerve weakness (Michael says his nose is numb)
• Difficulty swallowing (another distressing symptom Michael experiences)
• Aphasia (speech word find, slurring, understanding words)
• Weakness or paralysis in part of the body
• Taste senstation
• Limb sensation (Michael experiences weakness, tingling and numbness)
• Changes in sensory perceptions
• Changes in personality and/or thought processes
• Abnormal pulse, breathing rates, blood pressure (does snoring count?)
• Difficulty walking or balance issues (along with the dizziness, this has affected Michael at work)
• Fatigue or sleepiness (Michael is always tired)

As I review this list once again, I'm amazed about how many of Michael's... well, "issues"... may in fact be due to his tumor.  I have so often poo-pooed him whenever he blamed something on "the thing in his head".  But will removing it now get rid of all these symptoms?  We'll look at his prognosis tomorrow...