If you’ve been treated for a primary brain tumor, it’s very important to continue seeing us for follow-up examinations. These exams help us keep watch for possible signs of the cancer coming back, keep a watch on side effects, and monitor your health overall.
After surgery, you’ll have an MRI scan to determine how much of the tumor was removed and whether you need more treatment. Periodic scans are also done after radiation therapy and chemotherapy to watch for any new tumor growth.
If the cancer does come back, our experts can offer you several treatment options.
Depending on your situation, we may also recommend additional surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, or treatments offered through clinical trials. Maintaining your quality of life will be an important factor and we will work closely with you and your loved ones to figure out the best option for you.
Managing Seizures
Your doctor can usually prescribe antiseizure medication. If you take chemotherapy drugs, your doctor may be able to prescribe antiseizure medications that reduce the chance of a dangerous drug interaction. Our doctors can use an electroencephalogram (EEG) to monitor the electrical activity of your brain waves. EEGs can often be done in a routine visit to your neurologist.
If you experience ongoing seizures, your neurologist may recommend an EEG to monitor your brain waves. EEGs provide valuable information that our neurologists can use to improve your seizure control. This information may also help guide our surgeons in removing brain or tumor tissue believed to be responsible for the seizures.
Support for You and Your Family
We’re committed to helping you in every way we can — physically, emotionally, spiritually, and otherwise — for as long as you need us. We’re also here for your family. Our Adult Survivorship Program has support groups, follow-up programs, educational programming and materials, and more.
Plus, our Resources for Life After Cancer program offers individual and family counseling, lectures and support groups, and practical guidance on employment and insurance issues, among other services.
Our support group for people with brain tumors can help you adjust to life after treatment. Led by our social workers, nurses, and psychologists, these sessions give you an opportunity to learn from others’ experiences, exchange ideas, and seek support. Learn about upcoming meetings.
Counseling and Support
Sometimes, you and your loved ones just need someone to talk to, someone who’s trained to help you make sense of your experience before, during, and after treatment for cancer.
Our Counseling Center offers both individual and group counseling sessions to help you and your family cope with your disease. These sessions can be a healthy, productive way to work through the stress and anxiety that are sometimes a part of treatment and recovery.
Learn more about how we can support your emotional well-being.
Integrative Medicine
Medical treatments — things like chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery — are often the best way to treat your cancer. Their whole purpose is to get you healthy again. But at MSK, we know that complementary services can also help soothe and heal not only your body but also your mind and spirit.
Our Integrative Medicine Service can be a valuable part of your formal treatment plan. Programs we offer include massage, acupuncture, hypnotherapy, meditation, visualization, music therapy, and nutritional counseling. Formal classes include yoga, tai chi, and chair aerobics.
Learn more about the variety of complementary services we offer.
Older Patients
Cancer and its treatment are a challenge for anyone, regardless of age. But if you’re over 65, you may face unique issues that only affect people in your age group. We’re committed to providing cancer patients of all ages with the treatment, facilities, and support they need.
Your treatment team will include healthcare professionals who have the specialized training and experience to effectively treat older patients. Every aspect of your care — diagnosis, treatment, recovery, support — will be tailored to meet your particular needs.
Supportive Care and Pain Management
At Memorial Sloan Kettering, we focus on all aspects of comprehensive cancer care, not just treating the disease. Our specialists in supportive care can help you cope with the side effects of therapy. These include pain, nausea, and fatigue. We can also help with the emotional and spiritual needs that often come up during and after cancer treatment.
Learn more about how our Supportive Care Service can help you throughout the cancer experience.
If you are in pain during your treatments or even after they’re over, we have pain specialists who can help. We will build a plan that makes sense for you and your needs. Our experts can work with your doctor and pharmacists to give you solutions for both acute physical pain, which comes on suddenly, as well as chronic pain, which can linger. Our goal is to keep you as comfortable as possible.
New Patient Appointments
Available Monday to Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. (Eastern time)
