tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1065182338405908458.post1172772282011623182..comments2023-12-15T11:01:24.620+00:00Comments on Meningiomaheadstart: When is a Cancer not Cancer? Or is it also 'Benign' ?.Madam Codhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00378165135827502704noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1065182338405908458.post-15538334591231223112013-03-13T18:56:29.180+00:002013-03-13T18:56:29.180+00:00Hi - very interesting blog, thanks. Your thoughts ...Hi - very interesting blog, thanks. Your thoughts echo mine.<br /><br />My 'benign' tumour was found, purely by chance, four years ago whilst being investigated for something else. Repeated scans indicated either no or very little growth and there was even a view that the 'lesion' (another term) had been there since birth - I'm 52, by the way, and otherwise pretty healthy. As the mass wasn't growing, I didn't even bother to have a biopsy, given the risks (albeit very small) from the procedure (stroke etc) and the inconvenience of not being able to drive for 6 months. I should also say that I’ve had quite a few operations involving general anaesthetics (12 in fact), so I certainly wasn’t scared about that element. I just waited and got used to having this little cocktail sausage-sized lump inside me that shouldn’t be there. The 3-monthly scan interval moved to 6 months, then to annual and bi-annual. In January 2013, however, I was told that my sausage had grown – trebled in size. So I've now had the biopsy and am waiting for the results.<br /><br />The fascinating thing is the whole use of terminology and what I believe is a complete misnomer in the use of the term benign, certainly for brain tumours. A mass in your body that grows, no matter how slowly, is just not 'mild, kind or gentle' (as per dictionary definitions). Even medical definitions of the word benign state 'of no danger to health'. As you quite rightly say, in the confines of your skull, anything that grows, even if it doesn't invade other cells, is going to cause a problem due to the pressure.<br /><br />The other fact that really intrigued me was that grade 2 tumours could transform to grade 3 or 4. Now I reckon that most people being told that they are walking over an extinct or dormant volcano know what the risks are. They’d be pretty miffed if that dormant volcano blew up in their face. And that’s just the point. Benign means benign. Benign doesn’t harm you, even if slowly. It also doesn’t sometimes change into something that does. This doesn’t mean that we should be alarmed about having so-called benign grade 1 or 2 tumours, but it would be a great help in this age of information if we weren’t misled.<br /><br />All the best.<br /><br />Mark<br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06319112446474099017noreply@blogger.com