Managing

After treatment, your doctors will explain a follow-up plan, including regular checkups and, very likely, CT or MRI scans, to make sure the tumor has not returned.

Choose another disease or condition... Allergic Rhinitis Allergies, Food Allergy & Asthma Center Alzheimer's Disease Anxiety Aortic Aneurysms Arrhythmia Arthritis, Osteo- (OA) Arthritis, Rheumatoid (RA) Asthma Atopic Dermatitis Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) Back Pain Brain Tumor Bones, Joints & Muscles Center Breast Cancer Brain & Behavior Center Brain Tumor Cancer Center    Brain Tumor    Breast Cancer    Cancer Prevention    Clinical Trials    Colorectal Cancer    Endometrial Cancer    Living With and Beyond Cancer    Lung Cancer    Prostate Cancer    Skin Cancer Cardiomyopathy Cataracts Cholesterol Control Clinical Trials Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Colorectal Cancer Congenital Heart Disease Congestive Heart Failure (CHF) Coronary Artery Disease (CAD) Crohn's Disease Depression Diabetes Center Diabetes, Type 1 Diabetes, Type 2 Digestive Disorders Center Eczema Endometrial Cancer Erectile Dysfunction (ED) Eye & Vision Center Fibromyalgia Food Allergies Gallstone Disease Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD) GERD Glaucoma Hay Fever Headache Heart Center Hepatitis A Hepatitis B Hepatitis C High Blood Pressure Hypertension Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (HCM) Impotence Insomnia Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) Living With and Beyond Cancer Losing Weight Lung Cancer Macular Degeneration Memory Loss Osteoarthritis (OA) Osteoporosis Parkinson's Disease Peptic Ulcer Prediabetes Prostate Cancer Respiratory Disorders Center Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS) Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) Sexual & Reproductive Health Center Sinusitis Skin Cancer Sleep Apnea Sleep Center Stroke Type 1 Diabetes Type 2 Diabetes Ulcerative Colitis (UC) Weight Control Brain Tumor Related Links Photo Gallery: Fixing Your Brain Brain Tumor-Related Clinical Trials Information Email this page Print this section

The surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation used to treat a brain tumor may cause a variety of side effects during and after treatment. For example, edema (tissue swelling) or the buildup of cerebrospinal fluid (hydrocephalus) may occur after surgery. Steroids can reduce edema, but a second surgery may be needed to drain the fluid of hydrocephalus. Patients are also monitored for infections.

If treatments damage normal tissue, patients may have trouble thinking, seeing, or speaking. Personality changes or seizures are also possible. Most often, these problems are temporary, but brain damage can be permanent. Patients can be helped with physical therapy, speech therapy, and occupational therapy. Keep in mind that the side effects of a brain tumor that is out of control are almost always worse than the effects of the treatments.

In rehabilitation, a patient works with a team of therapists to speed recovery and the return to daily activities. Working with physical therapists helps patients regain strength and balance. Speech therapists help patients who may have trouble speaking or expressing thoughts, and occupational therapists work with patients in managing activities of everyday life such as eating and bathing. Social workers may assist with helping the patient and family manage the real-life issues that arise from having a brain tumor. Children with brain tumors may need tutors.