Hello,

If she has been diagnosed with brain metastases I am afraid prognosis is not good. If isolated lesion then perhaps radiosurgery may help but if multiple lesions then I fear the outcome is not good and the lifespan limited no matter what treatment. Medication to reduce brain swelling like dexamethasone should be given. Levipil and Frisium are good options for seizures, dosage should be raised if not achieving seizure prevention.

Hope I have answered your query. Let me know if I can assist you further.

Regards,
Dr. Olsi Taka, Neurologist

Hello,

I am very sorry of your sister's condition and hope she makes a speedy recovery. I'm certain her doctors are doing what they can to control what you describe as epileptic fits.

Unfortunately, metastases to the brain are very difficult to fully control since they usually require a fairly robust QUANTITY of medication to aid in RAISING the brain's threshold to go into seizure activity.

The problem is that by using enough medication to fully control seizures one must virtually always expect side effects on the patient which include extreme lethargy, fatigue, and an inability to be very coherent and interactive with people around her.

Perhaps, the doctors have asked your sister what her preferences are with being able to recognize and enjoy the time she has with family and friends knowing that adequate control of seizures may not be possible vs. controlling the seizures perfectly (or even more than they are at present) which would likely take her away from her environment without offering any therapeutic benefit to her underlying medical condition which is the metastatic cancer.

Hope I have answered your query. Let me know if I can assist you further.

Take care

Regards,
Dr Dariush Saghafi, Neurologist