Mady…wife, mother, grandmother & friend…taken way too soon

Mady…wife, mother, grandmother & friend…taken way too soon

Holly

December 7, 2015 my dad rushed my mom to the ER thinking she was having a stroke. She had been saying strange things…full sentences but they made no sense. Part of her face was drooping a little so stroke was the first thing he and my brother thought was happening. Within three hours my dad called and said they had found a mass in her head and were transporting her from Carson City NV to Reno NV. Within the next 24 hours we had a neurosurgeon tell my dad there was no point in doing a biopsy and he gave her 3-6 months to live. The other doctors treating her said that the neurosurgeon had no business telling my dad that without a biopsy. So we went ahead on December 11 to have a intercranial biopsy. I saw the MRI scans and it was huge…later the report would say 6.9 cm x 10 cm. It was on her left lobe and had crossed the midline as well…completely inoperable. She never had a headache or seizure like most do. We would learn just before Christmas that it was a glioblastoma multiforme grade IV tumor. She began radiation and temador chemo on January 4, 2016. By January 18, we were back in the ER because her leg was swollen and they found a blood clot in her left leg and her right lung was filled with blood clots. They put her on blood thinners to control the growth of the blood clots. Took her back home on January 21, 2016. On January 26 the oncologist stopped her temador because her blood count was down. By January 31 and February 1, 2016, she was losing her appetite, having difficulty swallowing and on Monday morning Feb 1, her throat was visibly swollen and she could hardly speak. My dad took her to the ER after her radiation appointment and by that evening, they had to give her a platelet transfusion (normal is 150,000 to 450,000 – hers was 200!!). On Tuesday February 2, 2016, they informed my mom and dad that her tumor was growing and they were stopping all treatment and referring her to hospice as there was nothing else they could do – they said she may have 3 months. She was transported home Friday February 5 by ambulance and was in a semi-coma by Saturday evening. She took her last breath on Sunday, February 7, 2016 just past 2 in the afternoon…exactly 2 months from the day dad took her to the ER thinking she was having a stroke. This is the most cruel and brutal tumor …it took her emotions, her personality, her strength and then her life in two months. In these last few months, it was brought to my attention that her cousin who passed away from brain cancer 25 years ago had the same tumor in the same location. He had many surgeries and experimental treatments but passed after three years. My ex-husband’s cousin also had a glioblastoma multiforme grade IV at age 6 – her’s was on the brain stem. This means that my daughter has THREE family members who’ve had this ugly beast – glioblastoma!! My goal now is to find out if she is predisposed to this horrible tumor.

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