My father was diagnosed with Glioblastoma Multiforme March 3, 2000. His only symptom bringing him to the doctor was memory loss. We found out it was in basal gangalia and inoperable. We know it was spreading because it showed on MRI. Well, he was put on dilantin and steriods and because he is diabetic (age related) it caused problems with blood sugar and he had to be on insulin. My father is 84 years old and had a very active life until March 3 (I would say he looked and behaved about 10 years younger). He had a very positive attitude towards life and was very accepting of everything that would come his way. Anyway, his symptoms worsened with all the meds they gave him. He was on 6 weeks of radiation and is now in a semi coma and we expect him to pass on since he has not eaten in 1 week. I'm writing this because during our trying times the only person that treated us like human beings was his oncologist. We had to hire aids to feed him because he was neglected (you know, probably written off because he was terminal). Hospitals have no time for the dying. As soon as his treatments were over we were notified it was time for him to leave. He is now in Calvery. This is a hospice that takes care of terminally ill people with love, understanding and respect(and treats families very well). If you want to help your family member keep pushing for treatments that you feel will help and never ever allow anyone to treat him less than the person he is. He deserves the best and doesn't deserve to be written off without some sought of help whether it be radiation or CLINICAL TRIALS. Get in touch with Sloan Kettering in New York and ask them if there are any Clinical Trials. Good luck and my prayers are with you. Also Dr. Lederman at Staten Island University Hospital in New York (718 area code).
Dee