My mother fell into a coma one month after being diagnosed with GBM
Hi all. My mother is 65 years old. In mid-February, she was diagnosed with butterfly GBM. The tumor involved the splenium of the corpus callosum and extended into both the occipital and parietal lobes on the left and right sides. Each side was more than 3 cm in size.
At one of the largest and most well-known hospitals in my country, we were told that surgery was possible. They removed about 80% of the tumor, but she was left with very severe cognitive and walking difficulties. She was not paralyzed, so we still thought she might be able to go through radiation and chemotherapy.
However, after she finished the steroids prescribed at discharge, her headache became severe. We went back to the hospital where she had surgery, but she was only given pain medication. A few days later, she started sleeping much more than usual.
A few days after that, she had a urinary accident and then became unable to wake up. We took her to a university hospital near our home, where she was supposed to receive radiation treatment, and she was diagnosed with hydrocephalus. But they wanted to try mannitol and steroids first for two days. While we were waiting during those two days, her breathing stopped. She then had emergency Ommaya reservoir surgery, but it was already too late. She is now in a complete coma.
I still cannot believe that all of this happened within just one month of her diagnosis.
Because she did not have obvious symptoms like vomiting or seizures, I did not take her to the emergency room sooner. I feel so sorry toward my mother, and I keep blaming myself.
We had no idea that this kind of risk could happen after discharge. I still cannot fully accept what happened. Is it possible for things to progress like this? Has anyone experienced something similar?