Any skull met horror stories to share?

GoldenGirls

They have finally got to the bottom of the hearing loss and numb chin my mother has experienced. The CT of the brain was clear but she has many skull mets. We already knew that she's had several skull mets for the past 4 years, but they are very concerned about a large one at the base of her skull and how much the skull is deteriorating. She begins radiation to the spot tomorrow but the radiation oncologist feels that these skull mets are a game changer and thinks it's time to stop treatment. Her regular onc is away on vacation and has no idea that this is happening at the moment. She is in hospital because of a fracture and I pushed for answers on these symptoms since no one else seemed to care that her hearing has diminished rapidly.

I've been doing the usual research on skull mets and particularly those located at the base of the skull but would like to hear from anyone who has personal experience with skull mets. This certainly explains a lot of her symptoms, which I thought was a good thing, until the rad onc spoke. I should point out that he has been all about the doom and gloom since she was first dx'd with mets. Had we thought the way he did my mother wouldn't have enjoyed the last 4 years -- most of which have been very good years. Hoping her regular onc has a different opinion as his goal has always been to keep her alive as long as possible and feeling as good as possible, while the rad onc has always had a "you're gonna die anyway so why not just stop wasting time with treatment and enjoy yourself instead" sort of attitude.

If you have experience you'd like to share, my mother could really use it.

DaughterOfStageIV

My mom had many painful skull mets too. She just finished 8 cycles of taxotere and cytoxan and she has no more pain. This chemo eliminated most or all of them. Best of luck to you!

GoldenGirls

Thank you and that's great news about your mom! My mom hasn't had any pain at all. Her symptoms are hearing loss and chin numbness.

Larkin

I don't have skull mets, but I do have mets to the lymph nodes at the base of my skull. I'm 13 days into 33 of radiation. I do have a bald spot and very sore throat but so far my mouth is okay. Radiation to this area is tricky because if they accidentally hit your spine, you will be paralyzed. I'm having IMRT radiation and was told not all insurance covers it. Your mom's RO might not mean to be negative but it might be that he understands that radiation side effects might be too harsh for your mom. If she can't afford to loose weight, and that's what will happen when she can't swallow well or eat much, he might be looking ahead at that. What does your mom want to do