My Story

Where do I begin? I am a RN first of all. If you know nurses, we are reluctant to take advice from ourselves. I had symptoms, but I put them at the back of my mind. 

I had what I thought was Bell’s palsy. I had a hard time writing and went to an orthopedic doctor. They said I didn’t have carpal tunnel and, if it kept on, they would order more labs, and so I went on. 

I worked on Friday, September 11, 2020, as a charge nurse. When I got home, me and my husband were going to go out to eat. I carried my two chihuahuas out and something happened while I was outside. It was a seizure. I couldn’t talk. My husband was saying, “What’s wrong?” I thought I had a stroke because the Bell’s palsy and my hand on the right side would not work. 

My husband rushed me to the ER and told them what my symptoms were. They took me back right away and said I didn’t have a stroke but something else was wrong. They took me for an MRI, and it showed a tumor in my left frontal lobe of my brain. 

I had a surgery, but they only took a biopsy and said the cancer was so scattered they couldn’t get it. I’ve been on chemotherapy and radiation and, in my 10th month of chemo, I couldn’t go on. I’ve been in remission from anaplastic oligodendroglioma, gliomatosis cerebri for three years.

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