My dad (73) has been diagnosed with a grade 4 brain tumor. He had his biopsy, and it is the worst form he could have. He had a small dose of radiation therapy, more for quality of life than to ease the swelling. Nothing more can be done for him, and we are still in shock as our dad had no previous symptoms. He was rarely sick. He did have stroke-like symptoms that were diagnosed when he went to the doctor, but as the symptoms got worse, his doctor referred him to the hospital. In his case, he did not suffer with any pain or headaches. So it goes to show, symptoms are not always present.

Six years before they discovered my brain tumor, I visited the doctors several times. I had a blood clot to my eye, and they didn't know why. I was 46 at the time. Then I experienced tightening across my shoulders and shortness of breath. I was getting palpitations and was put under the care of a heart doctor who found a mild swelling of the aorta. After that, I got headaches and dizzy spells. Then, finally, I had a stroke down the left side of my face. My tumor was benign. It was as big as a kiwi fruit and was called a left anterior fossa meningioma cavernous sinus. It was removed with an eight-hour operation five months ago. Now I feel great, apart from still being numb on the site of the operation and having thinning hair. I'm so pleased with the doctors for saving my life; it's fantastic.

With my brain tumor, I had headaches for many, many years, but I thought they were because of job stress and being a single mom, etc. Eventually, they got really bad, and I could hardly see anything out of my right eye. My optometrist had a look and told me to go see a specialist immediately. I was diagnosed with a grapefruit-sized meningioma, which was removed three years ago after a 13-hour operation. I am still blind in one eye, and I experience numbness on the right side of my face. I have learned to live this way, I was told I might end up being paralyzed.

I am 53 years old and have had Epilepsy since the age of 11 but the medics have been trying many different combinations of drugs to control the seizures throughout my life. It wasn't until my optician picked up on some visual field loss caused by long term use of Sabril that she recommended that I be put back in contact with a specialist again. By this time, it was possible to have an MRI scan which was previously unavailable. This picked up a tumor on my right temporal lobe area. They are keeping a regular check on it to make sure its not getting larger, but the epilepsy still occurs and I'm too frightened to have the tumor removed as its uncertain what other faculties might be interfered with.

I had bad headaches, occasional simple seizures, trouble controlling my bowels and bladder, and occasional nausea and vomiting after dining out.

One year ago I found out that I had a benign brain tumor around 9 cm large in my head. It caused me many great headaches and was pushing against my brain, causing my sight to deteriorate. Thankfully I had my mom with me to support my hour of need. After I was diagnosed I went under the knife the next day. I really thought I was going to die. Thankfully after a week the surgery was successful. I recovered and have started on a path to eating healthy and exercising more.

My grandson was diagnosed with a cancerous brain tumor nine years ago when he was 5. He had an operation, received radiation and chemotherapy, and has done beautifully. He is smart and athletic. He has taken growth hormones. He has had a hearing problem, and two days ago, we found out his "brain is coming out of the hole in his skull" (His father's words). He will be operated on next week.