Is it cancer?

Many people have asked me in regards to Stefan’s tumour – “is it cancer?”.  We won’t know for certain what the tumour type is until we get the pathology report.   In the meantime, following are a couple points I have found in my internet research (from either the BC Cancer Agency website or the Canadian Cancer Society websites) (The surgeon who operated on Stefan said it looked like a grade 2 Astrocytoma):

1.  Although grade 1 and 2 brain tumours may be considered “low grade”, grade 2 tumours are infiltrating, meaning they spread cells within the brain that cannot be entirely removed by surgery.  In addition, grade 2 tumours have a significant tendency to become more malignant over time (“malignant transformation”).  In simple terms, no tumour growing inside the brain tissue should ever be considered benign.  Only a small fraction can be removed totally by surgery, and even the slowest growing tumour can be lethal if left to grow unchecked within the closed space of the skull.

2.  Low‑grade diffuse astrocytomas account for approximately 35% of all astrocytomas. They are most often found in young adults, between the ages of 20 and 40 years.

I’ll leave this blog with a quote which was written into a card from a friend who also had a serious health even just over a year ago:

“You never know how strong you are until strong is the only choice you have.” – anonymous