Understanding Meningioma Tumors
- Lucy Woodhouse experienced hangover-like headaches, had trouble reading aloud, and at one point, wasn’t able to comprehend her coworkers when they were speaking during a work meeting. It turned out she had a brain tumor.
- Doctors discovered Woodhouse had a meningioma, the most common type of tumor that forms in the head. Meningioma tumors arise from the meninges the membranes that surround the brain and spinal cord.
- Doctors recommend that you see a doctor if you have the sudden onset of seizures or changes in vision or memory as it could be a meningioma; most of the time, meningioma symptoms develop slowly over time but sometimes can require emergency care.Other symptoms may include headaches, dizziness, or weakness in the arms and legs.
- Woodhouse underwent hormone replacement therapy (HRT), which she attributes to her tumor. It’s important to note that doctors are mixed about HRT as it is also linked to certain cancers like breast, ovarian and endometrial cancer. However, HRT is sometimes part of ovarian cancer treatment after a woman has removed her ovaries.
- As always, it is important to do your own research and weigh the benefits and risks with your medical team for HRT or any other form of treatment you are considering.
Woodhouse, from Hereford, England, who was found to have a meningioma tumor in her brain [a growth that develops from the membranes around the brain and spinal chord], is now sharing her story to warn others about the symptoms she initially likened to being a tired mom.
Read MoreShe continued, “I started HRT [Hormone replacement therapy] two years before my brain tumur diagnosis I think the meningioma was feeding off the oestrogen and progesterone. Every time I got a headache it was an hour after I fell asleep and then it would linger into the next day.
“It felt like I’d drunk six bottles of wine. They were disabling headaches I would be doubled up on all fours on my bed rocking and trying to get rid of it.”
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It wasn’t until a nurse noticed Woodhouse wasn’t blinking normal that she sought help. After getting an MRI done, she learned she had a brain tumor and was transferred another hospital where the doctors wanted to go about a “watch and wait” approach.
Despite their decision, Woodhouse decided to seek out another opinion from a London-based private brain surgeon, who decided it was best to remove the tumor.
She had surgery to remove the tumor in May, which she’s grateful for as it was growing very close to her optical nerve, something which could have led her to go blind.
Woodhouse continued, “I’ve got a scar now, but I’m doing really well. I’ve got some bald patches and my memory isn’t amazing. When I was diagnosed I was beside myself and one of the hardest things was telling the kids that was really difficult.
“My risk of seizure was very high, what worried me is I could have been driving on the motorway with my kids in the car and had a seizure. Go and get your eyes tested, depending on where it is opticians can spot it.”
“If you’re having headaches you don’t normally get with unusual presentation, you need to get it checked out,” she concluded. “And if you’re a woman who has had a lot of hormone treatment, multiple rounds of IVF or HRT [Hormone replacement therapy] or been pumped full of hormones for whatever reason – given that strong link you should go and get a scan.”
Woodhouse suspects the HRT medication she took while trying to conceive is linked to her tumor and alleges that her doctors have since recommended her to stop taking the medication.
She told SWNS that she had multiple Depo-Provera contraception injections in 1997, underwent three rounds of in vitro fertilization [IVF] treatments starting in 2013, and began taking HRT medication in 2021, when she also had the progesterone Mirena coil inserted, Wales Online reports.
Understanding Meningiomas, Symptoms, & When To See Your Doctor
Meningiomas aren’t technically brain tumors, Dr. Suriya Jeyapalan, director of medical neuro-oncology at Tufts Medical Center in Boston, Mass., previously told SurvivorNet; they are tumors that arise from the meninges the membranes that surround the brain and spinal cord. But the tumors can compress or squeeze the adjacent brain, nerves and vessels.
Most brain tumors aren’t actually cancerous, according to the American Brain Tumor Association. Less than one third about 32% of brain tumors are considered cancerous, or malignant.
If the tumor is made up of “normal-looking cells,” that means the tumor is benign. However, those kinds of tumors may still require surgery.
The signs and symptoms of a meningioma depend on its location, according to the National Cancer Institute, and may even be subtle at first.
Even though a meningioma isn’t technically a brain tumor, the symptoms are relatively the same as other brain tumors, such as a glioblastoma. The symptoms of a brain tumor, or even brain cancer if the tumor is malignant, can frequently and easily change, Jeyapalan tells SurvivorNet.
“But for I think this is the take home message for I think a lot of patients: Brain cancer is actually really rare,” Jeyapalan explained. “Lung cancer, breast cancer, colon cancer, are much more common.”
“Everybody’s always scared about getting their brain tumor and, you know, ‘Oh, should I be using my cell phone or what not,’ and I tell them, ‘No, you should be much more scared about the fact that you’re, you know, you’re hypertensive, you’re diabetic, you have high cholesterol, you’re overweight, you’re not exercising enough,” she added.
Symptoms can include:
- Changes in vision seeing double or blurriness
- Headaches, especially ones that are worse in the morning
- Hearing loss
- Memory loss or confusion
- Loss of smell
- Seizures
It’s recommended that you see a doctor if you have the sudden onset of seizures, or changes in vision or memory as it could be a meningioma; most of the time, meningioma symptoms develop slowly over time, but sometimes can require emergency care.
Make an appointment with your doctor if you feel you have symptoms, such as headaches that worsen over time, that concern you. But most times, meningiomas are only discovered on scans for reasons that turn out to be unrelated to the tumor.
Understanding Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT)
Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) is prescribed to help women manage menopausal symptoms. However, HRT with estrogen, which Woodhouse took during her IVF journey, is known to increase your risk of certain cancers.
Medical experts argue that hormones marketed as “bioidentical” and “natural,” aren’t safer than hormones used in traditional hormone therapy. It is important to do your own research and speak to your doctor, multiple if possible, to assess the pros and cons of taking any type of hormone replacement.
HRT-Related Cancer Risks
A 2019 analysis of 26 studies that include more than 4 million women found a correlation between HRT and ovarian cancer incidence for women in the United States and Europe.
The correlation was highest in two subtypes (epithelial-stromal and endometrioid ovarian tumors). However, the association couldn’t be reproduced in women in other parts of the world.
It’s important to note that HRT is sometimes part of ovarian cancer treatment after a woman has removed her ovaries.
“There is actually some data that suggests improved survival with HRT given to ovarian cancer patients after diagnosis,” Cedars-Sinai Medical Center OB/GYN and oncologist Dr. Bobbie J. Rimel explained in a previous interview with SurvivorNet.
The Importance of Listening to Your Body
“Hormone replacement therapy for women in menopause whose ovaries have stopped functioning is designed to help them deal with the symptoms of menopause. Hot flashes, night sweats, cognitive changes, bone health, vaginal dryness, libido all those things that you want to prevent that drama,” Dr. Rimel continued, adding that additional risks are involved when women go beyond the recommended limits for hormone replacement therapy.
Women are diagnosed with menopause after they’ve gone at least one year, or 12 months, without a period. “Menopause means different things to different people. The average experience begins with sleep disturbances, hot flashes, night sweats, and cessation of periods,” said Dr. Rimel.
The Importance of Being Your Own Advocate & Second Opinions
It’s important to practice, something many SurvivorNet experts often recommend, being your own biggest advocate.
“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 Murrell, 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.”
WATCH: Why advocating for your health is important.
Getting a second opinion is another way to advocate for your health.
Doctors do not always agree on whether your symptoms might warrant further testing. It’s during moments like these that having a second or third medical professional’s opinion might be able to catch something before it worsens.
Dr. Steven Rosenberg, chief of surgery at the National Cancer Institute supports patients getting multiple opinions.
“If I had any advice for you following a cancer diagnosis, it would be, first, to seek out multiple opinions as to the best care, because finding a doctor who is up to the latest information is important,” Rosenberg previously told SurvivorNet. “And it’s always important to get other opinions so that you can make the best decisions for yourself in consultation with your care providers.”
WATCH: Cancer Research Legend Urges Patients to Get Multiple Opinions.
Contributing: SurvivorNet Staff
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