Brain Cyst
 

Dear forum,

Yesterday my daughter's neurologist assessed her brain MRI and informed us that she has a brain cyst. At this point we don't know what type cyst it is and the neurologist suggest that we go see a neurosurgeon to attain more information. In the meanwhile I would like to ask the parents here who also have children struggling with brain cysts...what did y'all decided to do after having a consultation with your child's neurosurgeon? (go for surgery? or don't have the surgery and help your child live through the cyst?)

Every child is different. I've spoken with some friends about this matter, and some parents choose to have surgery so that their child does not suffer into adulthood. Other parents are afraid that surgery may result into other complications for their child, and so they find other alternatives to relieve symptoms such as prescription medication and remedial activities.

However, talking to 3 or 4 friends is not enough for me to expand my outlook. I am new to this forum and would love to hear from parents from all around about how y'all dealt with your child when you heard he or she was diagnosed with a brain cyst. It's a stressful thing for our family since we now understand what was the underlying cause for our daughter's change in behavior, which consequently has been affecting her mood, personality, and academics. Please feel free to share with me some opinions or ways that we can help our daughter cope with this issue in the meantime. Thank you and have a blessed day.

Warm Regards,
LCN

Hi LCN,

I'm surprised you know 3-4 people who have faced this. My child has not had a cyst but has had 5 relatively minor brain surgeries and also has seizures. The location and type matter so much, your best info will come from the neurosurgeon. Neurologists are generally not great at reading imaging, they'll often just repeat what radiology report has. This isn't something that can easily be compared. You will want to understand the location, surgical options, long term prognosis (with or without surgery) and so much more. It may be very disturbing for you. I trust our child's surgeon beyond measure and he can say some uncomfortable things, but those will be things I need to know. Some of those unpleasant things include what he can't fix, had that talk last month. So depending on where you live, you really want to get connected to the best pediatric surgeon, hope your friends have suggestions for that but people here may also have references.