{"id":26771,"date":"2019-10-04T10:00:11","date_gmt":"2019-10-04T16:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/?p=26771"},"modified":"2022-09-06T08:08:06","modified_gmt":"2022-09-06T14:08:06","slug":"when-a-brain-tumor-changes-who-you-are","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/when-a-brain-tumor-changes-who-you-are\/","title":{"rendered":"When a brain tumor changes who you are"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Since surgery, Kim Edwards has used work-around solution to remember new things, as her memory was affected by her brain tumor. It\u2019s made all the difference in her job as an accountant, and occasional ditch rider, at North Poudre Irrigation Company. Photo by Joel Blocker, for UCHealth.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Adventurous and independent from an early age, Kim Edwards wouldn\u2019t have thought twice about driving cross-country to hike a mountain with her friends. She has always had an adventurous personality. But about four years ago, her friends and family noticed her personality had drastically changed.<\/p>\n

Edwards had lost her ambition \u2014 and she seemed to be the only one who didn\u2019t notice.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe stopped going skiing and really anything outdoors. She wasn\u2019t interested in going on hikes. She slept a lot,\u201d explained her older sister, Chrysanne Grund. \u201cWhat we saw in her was very consistent with depression.\u201d<\/p>\n

Though they were concerned, those closest to her attributed her \u201cdeep funk\u201d to her divorce and the challenges of being a 40-something mother to a young child.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember when she moved into her first apartment (after the divorce), there was this cool little gym there by the pool,\u201d said Kathy Sargent, Edwards\u2019s childhood friend. \u201cThe Kim I knew for decades would have said, \u2018OK, I need to get in gear, quit wallowing, and hop on that treadmill and get my life back.\u2019 There was none of that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Edwards was experiencing crippling migraines that had been on-going for years and had started to notice her eyesight was failing.<\/p>\n

Pulling into her garage \u201cwas a very narrow fit, and I hit the side of the wall with my car,\u201d she recalled.<\/p>\n

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Torin Thorsgard, right, supervisor at North Poudre Irrigation Company, talks to Kim Edwards about meter reading on the Monroe Canal. Photo by Joel Blocker, for UCHealth.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The aha moment<\/strong><\/h3>\n

After the garage incident, Edwards decided to visit her eye doctor.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe said, \u2018Cover your right eye and tell me what you can see on the barn,\u2019\u201d Edwards said. \u201cI said, \u2018I can\u2019t see a barn at all. What are you talking about?!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

He told Edwards he wasn\u2019t sure what was going on but would help her find out. He referred her to a retinologist, who ordered an MRI from UCHealth.<\/p>\n

The frontal lobe<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The brain\u2019s frontal lobe controls important cognitive skills, such as emotional expression, problem-solving, memory, language and judgment. It\u2019s the \u201ccontrol panel\u201d of our personality and ability to communicate.<\/p>\n

When a benign tumor \u2014 called a meningioma<\/a> \u2014 forms on the membranes that cover the brain and spinal cord just inside the skull, it can push on the frontal lobe, restricting its ability to function property, said Dr. Lars Widdel, a neurosurgeon with UCHealth<\/a> in northern Colorado.<\/p>\n

It also displaces the nerves that affect vision. And therein lay the answer: Edwards had a baseball-sized tumor growing in her head.<\/p>\n

\u201cKim had always been a sarcastic and funny person, never depressing or a negative person,\u201d Grund said. \u201cThe tumor so clearly explained her personality change.\u201d<\/p>\n

The brain tumor<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Meningiomas<\/a> are usually slow-growing and noncancerous \u2014 Kim\u2019s had probably been growing for about 10 years. If small enough, Widdel said, they can usually be addressed through focal-pinpoint radiation. This process doesn\u2019t remove the tumor but prevents it from further growth and is highly effective, he said.<\/p>\n

But when a tumor reaches the size of Edwards\u2019s and is causing symptoms, radiation can have very negative side effects. Surgery is the preferred route.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith the tumor\u2019s location, it has the potential to be life-threatening,\u201d Widdel said. \u201cIt can block the flow of normal spinal fluid to the brain and cause seizures or death.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kim was lucky she never had a seizure, but the tumor was laying on her optic nerve rendering her blind in the left eye. And though Edwards said she didn\u2019t notice, it was also crushing the olfactory nerve hindering her sense of smell.<\/p>\n

To prepare her for the operation, Widdel put Edwards on a high dose of steroids to reduce swelling and relax her brain. He scheduled Edwards\u2019s surgery for about three weeks later.<\/p>\n