Nonstop Babbling Led to Brema’s Glioblastoma Diagnosis

Brema H. was sitting at her desk when the sparkles started — bright flashes in her field of vision, like shooting stars. A migraine, she figured. She’d had them before. She closed her eyes and waited for the symptoms to pass. But this time was different. The symptoms cycled in and out five times. And then she started babbling.

A month later, it happened again. Her doctor prescribed medication for migraines. But during the next episode, Brema’s speech turned into repetitive nonsense: “Do-do-do, do-do-do. Venetri, venetri, venetri.”

She recalled, “In my mind, I was screaming, ‘Help me, I can’t stop!’ But all I could say were those sounds.”

Her coworkers knew she feared ambulances, so they drove her to a nearby fire station, where they learned her blood pressure was dangerously high. Brema insisted on going home to sleep it off.

But the babbling returned a month later, and it frightened her.

“I thought seizures meant convulsing on the ground,” she said. “I didn’t realize that what I was experiencing was seizures.”

Before going to the hospital, Brema wrote a note on an index card, “If I start babbling, get help.” She put her insurance card and driver’s license together with the index card and walked into the emergency room. Brema’s babbling returned when the triage nurse came to speak with her, so Brema pointed to her index card. 

“Before I knew it, they had me hooked up to monitors,” Brema said. “I remember them saying, ‘When you feel the babbling coming on, tap to get our attention so we can read the EKG machine and see what’s going on.’”

That was the last thing Brema remembers before waking up from brain surgery in April 2022.

A Mass in Her Brain

Brema woke up in a hospital bed with 27 staples in her head and her family by her side.

Doctors discovered a tumor the size of an Oreo cookie in her left frontal lobe — glioblastoma.

She spent three days in the ICU before being discharged and soon began treatment: 33 rounds of radiation, oral chemotherapy, and later Tumor Treating Fields.

She hasn’t had a seizure since her initial surgery.

In May 2024, Brema took part in NBTS’s Georgia Brain Tumor Walk & Race — her first since being diagnosed. Surrounded by fellow survivors, care partners, and supporters, she found hope and healing in community. There, she met others facing the same diagnosis.

A Recurrence

Two months after the walk, Brema faced a recurrence. Surgeons removed the new tumor in October 2024 and implanted 33 Gamma Tiles, small radiation wafers placed directly at the tumor site.

“It’s like slow-release radiation under my skull,” Brema explained. “I didn’t have to go back in for 33 more rounds of in-person radiation.”

She’s back on Tumor Treating Fields now, with her oncologist’s green light.

“When I was first diagnosed, everything I read said glioblastoma was a death sentence,” Brema said. “That terrified me. But I refused to throw myself a pity party.”

She continued, “Even though this is a life-altering disease, there’s still hope. I have 20-30 more years I want to live. I don’t want to go now. I’ve got a whole lot of things to do. I’m going out kicking and screaming.”

TAGGED WITH: glioblastoma

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