A man called David LaPlume from New Jersey was diagnosed with a benign meningioma, a kind of cancer that grows just under the skull, above the brain. In going through the process of surgery for the tumor’s removal, his surgeon at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in NJ took photographs before and during the (successful) surgery. Now about two weeks later, LaPlume has posted the photos to Flickr, giving an amazing documentation of his surgery as well as the before-and after, like his girlfriend giving him a mohawk the night before so that he didn’t have a lopsided haircut!
The little dots on my head were used during my pre-operative MRI. Software is used to assign geographical coordinates to the image, enabling the surgeon to pass an infrafed pen over my head, and see the actual location on the MRI screen. This, in turn, allows them to find the precice location of the meningioma (tumor) before cutting into my head.
Gory photos- but so compelling. Brave man to want to see what they were doing to his head. Don’t think I would want to watch the video of my op!!
Menigioma is not cancer. You should strike that from the above comments so people reading this do not get needlessly frightened.
Well to me it does seem like a kind of cancer. Aren’t all tumours effectively cancer? It may normally be benign as a meningioma, but that doesn’t stop it being cancer surely.
Your in denial if you think that menigiomas aren’t a type of cancer. Just because their not “malignant” does not mean you can’t die from them - my wife almost died from a menigioma the size of my fists.
I went through this op, one year ago today. That’s why I happen to be surfing and found this site. It’s the first time I’ve seen photos of the procedure, and it’s been really interesting. My tumour was according to my surgeon about the same size, he described it as a small orange. I was happy to have my staples out in three days and back home after four days. Then back at work after four weeks. When you first hear brain tumour it seems like a death sentence, but after talking to people with similar problems you find it’s not the end of the world, and in fact teaches you what’s really important in your life.
A friend of mine is scheduled for neurosurgery on July 11th to remove a meningioma. I would like to know what would be most helpful to give to her post-operatively. I’d like to give her something more useful than flowers if possible…
Thank you
I´m a brazilian neurosurgery. Meningioma is not a cancer. It is a benign tumor who may grows in silence during decades - and suddenly causes a convulsion. After the operation, the patient is completely cured. So the persons who have been opered for a meningioma doesn´t have to be worryed anymore.
Gustavo Leal de Meirelles, M.D.
I had a similar operation last year in Inova Hospital VA, everything went ok and I went home 3 days after very happy and wiht a huge blue eyes!.
All the thanks to my surgeon and all the people from the Hospital!
There are many different types of menigiomas. About 80% of them are slow growing and rarely invasive (WHO grade 1 = benign) but those can still produce cranial vault mass effects, seizures, or cause deformations of the skull. The other 20% are atypical menigiomas (WHO grade 2). About 1% are anaplastic menigiomas (WHO grade 3), for which average survival is < 2 years. As far as “brain tumors” go they aren’t that bad, but they are still a tumor in the skull and a serious medical problem.
This is all 2007 information taught at Washington University in St Louis med school, so its pretty up to date.
My grandmother was diagnosed with a meningioma, she is 84 years old and has diabetes and high blood pressure. The neurosurgant thinks that she need to have surgery to remove it, please help with advice since I don’t know what is the best way to go. I am desperate and need to make a decission as soon as possible, any advice is highly appreciated.
I am not certain that Gustavo Leal de Meirelles, M.D. is even a doctor. His comments are beyond insensitive. Beyond the face that there are malignant meningimas, even meningiomas that are considered benign should be considered cancerous. They are cells that are dividing and are causing damage. They caused me double vision and have caused many more problems for friends of mine.
i have been suffering from 2 meningiomas for the past 10 yrs.
i have many symptoms from these, seizures, d. vision, pain in head & face, tremour of hands & mouth balance problems which means i can only walk with a walker. all my lft side is weak.
you say these meningiomas are nothing not on your life
Gustavo seems to be very insensitive and not so intelligent. I had a very large men. removed 4 mths ago and still can not speak well and have terrible short and long term memory issues. Besides having to have yearly mri’s for life and all the seizure meds I am on…… I seem to think that maybe I am NOT completely cured!!!
David LaPlume: I thoroughly enjoyed the pictures of your meningioma removal. I myself underwent removal of a meningioma that was located in my right parietal area on 6/23/08 at Barrow Neurosurgical Institute in Phoenix, AZ. As a nurse, your pictures have educated me to brain anatomy immensely. Textbooks do not do justice to the “real thing” as was captured in your photos. I am recovering albeit slow. My left leg still has numbness and weakness but I am ambulating!! Best wishes for continued good health.
I also had surgery on 6/23– to remove a posterior fossa meningioma in my left cerebellum area. Due to formation of a blood clot, I was back in surgery 2 days later. The surgeries were performed at Yale New Haven Hospital.
My recovery is slow with continued vision and balance problems. The fatigue is a pain.
I don’t think that I was prepared for the ordeal. I was told that I would just “sail right through it”
However, there are more lethal tumors out there. I will get through this.
Meningioma are NOT cancer. They are tumours. If they were cancerous they would not be called meningioma
FYI… I had a meningioma removed on 23 June this year and I am absolutely fine apart from suffering from unusual fatigue. In fact the sight I had lost has returned. I guess it is just where the tumour is, how long it has been there, the skill of your surgeon and you own attitude that make it a success or not. I refused to get down about the whole thing and I feel fantastic
hi! i am presently confined in the hospital right now and was diagnosed as having meningioma. i had a seizure last wed.which has brought me here. my neuro surgeon suggested a surgery. he wants it to be done this mon.since after monday he will be available after 3-4 wks. iam having second thoughts of having the surgery this monday but im very much willing to have the surgery done its just that i need some time.this is not a minor surgery. i want to have enough time for myself to be prepared…physically, mentally, emotionally, psychologically, and of course, financially. me and my husband just came here frm the philippines 4mos. ago.and we are still on the adjustment period.
i dnt know what to expect. iam so nervous and afraid and anxious. pls enlighten my mind. thank you.
Found this site while skimming for any info related to my symptoms…Presented with the nastiest sinus infection on Christmas Eve 06, the er doc “had a hunch” did several tests, scans, etc., 9 hours later was told: the good news was I had severe sinusitus, the bad news was I had a brain tumor. Go home, have a nice Christmas then come back the next day. Jumping forward…cleared up the sinuses & had my benign meningioma removed 02/07, Had one grand mal seizure, middle of the night.. possibly due to conflicting meds, or maybe it was that pesky tumor. After surgery felt sooo much better, eventually drove again and weaned completely from meds.
June 2008…another grand mal seizure, hospitalized one day and I’m back on Tegretol.
Feel good, having a nice Sunday, then wham! 8 consecutive seizures and I’m hospitalized a few days again. No signs of (significant) regrowth.
And no real explanation from my neuro.
Anybody else out there care to weigh in? Much appreciated.
I have been diagnosed with a meningioma just this week. The discovery was quite by accident–I was in the ER thinking I might be experiencing a stroke or heart attack, and the CT scan showed a tumor. The next day’s MRI showed a 1 inch meningioma that had absolutely nothing to do with the problems I had experienced. That turned out to be bone spurs and a bulging disk in my neck. However, the meningioma is only about an inch big, pre-symptomatic, and will be removed after my son’s wedding in a few weeks. I found this site while researching my situation, and I want to thank you for posting these pictures. It has helped me tremendously, and made my wife quite queasy.