Against All Odds

Hi, my name is Sarah, and I’m from Melbourne, Australia. I had acute lymphoblastic leukemia as a child in the early eighties, where no bone marrow transplants or stem cell therapy were available.

As cancer cells got into my CSF around my brain, the only treatment in Australia at that time was intense radiation to the whole brain. As no shields were used, this resulted in me getting two radiation-induced meningiomas decades after my treatment finished.

My first one, diagnosed in 2012, initially left me paralyzed after the craniotomy on my left-hand side, and I had aphasia (difficulty talking) as well. It took years to recover, but I eventually did.

Then in 2018, I was diagnosed with another radiation-induced tumor in my left frontal lobe. Four types of medicine — hydroxyurea, Avastin, everlimus, and temozolomide — didn’t shrink the tumor, and it grew at a faster rate.

Now two days out of surgery for this one, I am still fighting and trying to make people aware of how radiation can cause brain tumors later in life and just to be aware of the risks.

TAGGED WITH: brain tumor, meningioma

Opinions expressed within this story belong solely to the author and do not reflect the views or opinions of the National Brain Tumor Society.