r/braincancer • u/PerceptionMotor7173 • 2d ago
Non-symptomatic resections - do you feel any difference after the operation?
My tumor was found by accident and I don’t have any symptoms so I’m wondering if I will feel any different post-op. I see comments that people feel less like themselves so wondering if that depends on the stage at which it’s caught.
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u/Electrical-Egg-2319 2d ago edited 2d ago
I had accidental finding and a resection month and half ago. My tumor was in the prefrontal cortex and after surgery I was very sensitive to light and sounds and easily irritable but it was fine after two weeks. Now I still get tired and overstimulated easier, I’m a little more fearful and the biggest and kinda funny change is that I have developed a phobia of insects. I was fine with bugs, actually really liked them before, but now my fight or flight reaction is just theatrical. Last week I got scared of food mole that was printed on some packaging and started run away…
But overall, no much issues, loud places are still too much, but I definitely feel like myself and starting to live my life „normally” again. My tumor was ~3.5cm radius ball, so it was not caught early and I had supratotal resection so margin of healthy brain tissue was removed too.
Of course, no guarantees and every case is different. Happy to answer questions if you have any!
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u/seanclmn1 2d ago
No differences, though mine was small - about 1.2cm diameter and very superficial
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u/DayanKnite 2d ago
I had 2 surgeries (March, April) to debulk a large mass on my right temporal lobe. For a month or so after each my head would hurt if I bent over or sneezed, but I was fine to crouch for stuff, and my head no longer hurts when I sneeze or bend over. I would also get tired easier during that time. My energy levels were fine after that. My pre-surgery symptoms are gone and I have no new ones.
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u/Mammoth-Platform5723 1d ago
For a while after surgery the body I suppose took its time to cope and heal up. But I was feeling much better like it almost never happened after the treatment cycle was over. It was good for that 1 and a half year.
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u/L0Lygags 1d ago
I used to have chronic headaches or a constant “feeling” in my head (i call it loud since it was just this feeling of noise) and after my resection it was quiet and was quiet the entire recovery period. Never had to use a intense pain killer for anything just tylonal to keep ahead of any pain i might have for like a week or 2
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u/Bikepackingfat 2d ago
Had a 6.8cm astrocytoma grade 2 resected back in April after happening upon it during an MRI for another issue. No symptoms at all. It was right under my motor strip. Came out of surgery with no left side motor control. Hand has come back marvelously, maybe like 80%+ of previous ability. Left leg and foot are behind that significantly - weakness and dropfoot with reduced sensation and fine motor control. I’m in physical rehab twice a week and making progress but still need an AFO and a cane when walking around (at home I use just a walker if I don’t feel like putting on the AFO. I’m told it takes 12-18 months before “new normal” can be determined, so I’m working hard in the meantime to try and improve. In retrospect I probably should have gotten a second opinion, but my neurosurgeon was so blown away I had no symptoms and was confident in a positive outcome (basically said I could start having seizures and losing mobility at any moment if it started to grow faster) so I went for it and had the craniotomy two weeks after the MRI (4/22/2025). Spent a month inpatient, and finally made it home. About to start back at work part-time with accommodations for my mobility disability. I also find myself overwhelmed and overstimulated much more easily than I was before. Fatigue is maybe my biggest issue, but that is most likely related to my chemo (voranigo).