World Brain Tumor Day

internet image of CT Sanner.

Some times, when I can't think of a topic for a day when I usually post a blog, I turn to nationaltoday.com to see if one of the day's "holidays" gets me thinking or presents an interesting topic.

A month ago I wouldn't have given a second thought to World Brain Tumor Day, first observed in 2000 by the German Brain Tumor Association.

A couple weeks ago, a good friend was diagnosed with one.  It's been removed and post-surgical treatment is planned.  While there is no "simple" or "easy" brain surgery, their prognosis seems positive.

The treatment and care for people who have a tumor in their brain has made a lot of progress.  All the way back to the age of Socrates and Hippocratis, they identified symptoms of pressure in the brain.  

The ability to X-ray to make a medical diagnosis began in 1895 but it wasn't until 1954 that doctors began to use a nuclear scanner to identify and treat precisely.  MRI machines came into use in the mid-1970s, which earned the inventor, Paul Lauterbur a Noble Prize.

 

The day is about awareness and education.  According to the creators of World Brain Tumor Day, the usual symptoms are headaches or nausea.  As someone who has had severe migraines, an individual headache wouldn't set off alarm bells but if they became frequent I'd like to think I'd call my doctor.

My friend has a positive attitude and treatment so far has reinforced those feelings, I'm praying for their full recovery and urge my kind readers to contact your doc if you've been having unexplained, regular headaches.