Understanding Brain Abscesses
- Eric Markowitz, a 35-year-old dad, experienced “a hellish state of vertigo, nausea, and dizziness,” in addition to weight loss—which turned out to be brain abscess, not cancer.
- According to Johns Hopkins Medicine, a cerebral abscess “is a pus-filled pocket of infected material in your brain” which is can also be called a brain abscess. A cerebral abscess is classified as a medical emergency that needs immediate treatment. So be sure always to pay attention to symptoms and seek help when needed.
- Meanwhile, brain tumors (malignant and benign) may cause symptoms such as difficulty walking, headaches, confusion, personality changes, vision changes, memory loss, and more.
- Overcoming adversity can seem daunting but having a plan can make it feel achievable. It’s important to remember know that setting goals and breaking them into smaller steps is key. When going through a difficult time try setting a goal, making a plan, relying on others, and using positive self talk
In a tell-all X post, Markowitz, who has a loving wife named Rachel and toddler daughter Beatrice, explained his symptoms first started up in January 2023, at a time he was feeling overall “pretty healthy,” had no prior health issues, and didn’t drink.
Read MoreToday I'm sharing a very personal story. I hope that by sharing it, I might help someone else in the world.
In February 2023, I underwent emergency brain surgery to remove what — at the time — my doctors thought could be a stage 4 glioblastoma tumor: terminal brain cancer.
— Eric Markowitz (@EricMarkowitz) July 16, 2024
Doctors then scheduled emergency brain surgery called a craniotomy to decipher whether he had stage four glioblastoma, a central nervous system (CNS) tumor, or an abscess t”hat could pop at any point.”
He wrote on X, “If it was an abscess, the infection would likely prove fatal as well, given its proximity to my brainstem.”
The fear of the unknown left him thinking he wouldn’t make it out of surgery, however, that thankfully wasn’t the case.
“The short version of what happened next is nothing short of a miracle: I got a second chance at life. I survived the surgery. The growth turned out to be an abscess—not cancer,” he explained further, in his social media post, which was shared in July 2024.
“Abscesses typically pop after 10 days or so. Mine was in my head for 4 weeks. I survived. I have a pretty rad scar. My daughter turns 3 this weekend. And my wife and are I expecting baby #2 next month.”
The hospital did an MRI. Later, I'd learn the on-call radiologist missed something in the scan: a fast-growing lesion in my brain.
For the next 4 weeks, I lived in a hellish state of vertigo, nausea, and dizziness. In and out of the hospital.
In a month, I lost over 30…
— Eric Markowitz (@EricMarkowitz) July 16, 2024
Now, Markowitz is feeling grateful for the experience which “profoundly shifted” his perspective on life.
He’s now advising others, “Slow down. The long game is… long. But only if you’re lucky. The future isn’t guaranteed. I’m so much more grateful for the small things. The small things are the good things. The world is complex and, yes, has many problems. But I’m just happy to be here. I wish you all health, and good luck, in that order.”
Going into further detail about his surgery in an article he wrote for The Big Think, Markowitz said, “The craniotomy was a tough procedure.
“They removed a large chunk of skull in the back of my head, spread open my brain with forceps, and removed the lesion.”
Looking back on the symptoms that led him to the ER, the Portland, Oregon, resident, also spoke with TODAY.com, telling the news outlet, “The room was kind of spinning. That’s just what it felt like constantly. No matter what I did, no matter what position I was in, I just felt like I was in the state of spinning.
“It’s a really out-of-control, really scary feeling paired with an intense nausea and throwing up.”
He also revealed he lost approximately 35 pounds in just one month as he was often vomiting.
“I was so hungry because I wasn’t able to eat anything, I remember getting really obsessed with cooking shows,” he told TODAY.com, “I was just thinking about food all the time. In retrospect, I think I was starving because I couldn’t keep anything down.”
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Now that Markowitz is better, he concluded, “What you realize is the fact that for our bodies to work every day, so many millions of things need to happen correctly. And when one of those things breaks, the whole system breaks down.
“I’m just grateful that things are working. There’s a lot of beauty to that.”
What Is a Cerebral Abscess?
According to Johns Hopkins Medicine, a cerebral abscess “is a pus-filled pocket of infected material in your brain” which is can also be called a brain abscess.
“An abscess can cause your brain to swell, putting harmful pressure on brain tissue. An abscess can also keep blood from flowing to parts of your brain. If you develop this problem, you will need emergency treatment,” Johns Hopkins explains.
These type of abscesses usually develop when bacteria or fungi find their way into one’s brain, either through the bloodstream or an infected area in the head, like sinuses or ears. Head injuries or surgeries can also allow germs in, leading to an abscess.
People with a higher risk for cerebral abscess may have:
- Heart defects
- Conditions that affect your immune system
- Medicines that affect your immune system
- Recent head injury, surgery, or even a dental procedure
- Intravenous (IV) drug abuse
Symptoms of a cerebral abscess, as per Johns Hopkins, include:
- Headaches
- Fevers and chills
- Going in and out of consciousness
- Visual disturbances
- Weakness on one side of your body
- Nausea and vomiting
- Seizures
- Changes in personality
- Confusion
- Trouble moving or speaking
Treatment may consist of taking antibiotics, steroids, medicines, or surgery, like the one Markowitz underwent.
For anyone in need of surgery, John Hopkins says, “Your surgeon will go through your skull to expose your brain. They will drain material in the abscess and, if possible, remove it entirely. If the abscess is deep in your brain, your surgeon may need to drain it with a needle, with help from a CT or MRI scan. These help direct the needle to the right area.”
Remember, a cerebral abscess is something that’s classified as a medical emergency which needs immediate treatment. So be sure to always pay attention to symptoms and seek help when needed.
Understanding Glioblastoma Tumors
Markowitz was initially told he may possibly have a glioblastoma, which is considered a central nervous system (CNS) tumor. Thankfully, he didn’t have a glioblastoma tumor, but his story is a great way for others to be aware of the symptoms and know when to seek medical advice.
According to the National Cancer Institute, the average survival rate is 15 months with treatment and less than six if left untreated. While there is a five-year survival rate of averaging 6 percent, those individuals will never be cancer-free and must continue receiving radiation and chemotherapy for the rest of their lives.
Glioblastomas are tricky to treat and manage because their cells are heterogeneous, meaning that each one must be individually targeted to slow tumor growth. Surgery cannot remove all the cancer because the tumor burrows into the brain, so the tumor starts to grow again immediately after surgery.
Glioblastoma risk factors can include:
- Prior radiation exposure
- Gender: men are more likely to get glioblastoma than women
- Age: people 50 years or older
- Certain genetic syndromes, including neurofibromatosis, tuberous sclerosis, von Hippel-Lindau disease
Symptoms for glioblastoma can vary depending on the area of the brain where the tumor begins and spreads and its growth rate, according to MD Anderson Cancer Center. But common symptoms of glioblastoma can include:
- Headaches
- Seizures
- Changes in mental function, mood, or personality
- Changes in speech
- Sensory changes in hearing, smell, and sight
- Loss of balance
- Changes in your pulse and breathing rate
Current Options to Treat Glioblastoma
Although glioblastomas are difficult to treat, the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) approval of the drug temozolomide (Temodar) was a massive breakthrough in helping patients with this aggressive disease. Temozolomide is a chemotherapy drug patients can take after surgery and radiation therapy.
Dr. Daniel Wahl, professor of radiation and oncology at the University of Michigan, previously explained to SurvivorNet that Temozolomide is an oral drug that works by “slowing down tumor growth.”
“Patients with GBM have effective treatment options; there are four of them: surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, and tumor targeting fields. These are electric fields that we can use to treat these cancers,” Dr. Wahl said.
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Other FDA-approved drugs for treating glioblastoma include lomustine (Gleostine), intravenous carmustine (Bicnu), carmustine wafer implants, and Avastin (bevacizumab). Avastin is a targeted drug therapy that blocks glioblastoma cells from requesting new blood vessels that feed and allow the tumor to grow.
“Outcomes for these patients are still suboptimal,” Dr. Wahl continued. “What I tell my patients is that we have these effective treatments, but what they do is they delay the time to when this tumor comes back. Only in exceptional circumstances would we ever talk about getting rid of one of these cancers a few.”
Resilience Through Adversity
Although Markowitz had fear of what would come when he was suffering his symptoms, he remined reilient throughout it all. SurvivorNet specializes in covering the lives of people who overcome seemingly insurmountable obstacles. Often, seeing the positive helps them maintain their resilience.
Dr. Zuri Murrell, an oncologist at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, spoke to SurvivorNet about the role of a positive outlook on survival rates: “I’m pretty good at telling what kind of patient are going to still have this attitude and probably going to live the longest, even with bad, bad disease. And those are patients who, they have gratitude in life.”
Resilience: Staying Positive Despite Adversity
Meanwhile, resilience is an important trait, but not the easiest to build. When building resilience, the ultimate goal is not to avoid tough times, but to be able to bounce back from them. And yet, when they are faced with an overwhelming, life-changing situation, how do people shift their view? How do they learn to see the problem as temporary, rather than permanent, and figure out a solution?
It’s complicated, because building resilience is more about your mental and emotional fortitude than anything else. According to the American Psychological Association, “the resources and skills associated with more positive adaptation (i.e., greater resilience) can be cultivated and practiced.” In other words, resilience is not something you’re born with, which should be encouraging. Instead, after every challenge in your life, you build more and more resilience to those hard times.
Building resilience is down in the same way you build muscle, through patience and steady exercise of the skill.
Some lessons learned from other cancer warriors SurvivorNet has covered include being willing to learn, spending time with people who inspire you, allowing yourself to grieve, being flexible, and leaning in to your community for support.
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Contributing: SurvivorNet Staff
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