I wake up early to start my day. We have to head to our new construction townhome being built in Middletown, NJ. We are excited, we closed on the house we sold in April and were told we would be moving into this new place in September. So we were heading down for our first walk through of our home.
I didn’t know my life would be taking a sudden turn.
I showered, got ready and was gathering my things: a purse, a bottle of water, a box I wanted to take to recycling, and a sweatshirt. I was walking down a flight of steps and then suddenly I lost my balance. I landed on my head, luckily on an area rug. We are staying with my in-laws and my mother in law comes over to help me up. The paramedics come and decide I should be screened for a concussion. I didn’t think much of it. I fell because I was carrying too much down a set of stairs and I lost my balance. I’ll be fine.
The CT scan was done and I was planning with Doug when we would be able to reschedule our walk through. I was basically waiting to be discharged. I felt ok, a bit sore and with a headache, but nothing a few days of rest wouldn’t solve.
The doctor came in and said they found a large bleeding mass on my brain. I was going to be given a Rx for an MRI.
The MRI came back that I had a lemon-sized mass over my left temporal lobe. It had to be removed. I had to have a craniotomy. The craniotomy was on August 8. I found out I had Anaplastic Oligodendroglioma, a type of brain cancer, on August 18.
I have one round of chemo left. Then I am done with treatment. Sadly, this type of cancer comes back. I will have an MRI every 3 months for the foreseeable future. The goal is to not have a recurrence in the next 5 years. Life expectancy goes up for patients like me when we can get past the 5 year mark. Some patients don’t have a recurrence for 20 years or even longer. Let’s hope I am one of them.
The question everyone has asked is “did you have any symptoms?”. Nope. I had headaches, but who doesn’t? Nothing in my life would have given me any hint that this was happening.
I am so grateful I fell on that day; if I didn’t I’d have had a stroke or seizure before the end of 2022 due to where the tumor was.
Life is precious. I am full of gratitude.
