Spring in Oklahoma City can be stormy.So when the storm started, Jennifer McMillan didn’t worry headache in early March.
“The weather in Oklahoma is really crazy. I’ve always had headaches when the pressure changes,” McMillan, 50, told TODAY.com.
“I chalked up the severity of the headache, but it got progressively worse. … It was a headache that wouldn’t go away. I woke up with it and slept with it.”
After about three weeks, McMillan was convinced he had sinusitis.
Then one Sunday in late March, she fell and broke several ribs. She thought Mr. McMillan tripped, but she actually fell. problem of balance. From then on her family started watching her closely. Her children, she recalls, realized that she was “not all over and a bit demoralized.”
When getting ready for work the next morning, the mother of four was unable to dress herself and her husband had to style her hair. “I was just exhausted and had a terrible headache,” she says. When she started vomiting the next day, she realized she had to go to her emergency room.
A CT scan found a mass in her brain. McMillan underwent brain surgery on April 3, just days after her discovery, to remove as much of her brain as possible. A biopsy of the tumor confirmed the diagnosis. glioblastomaAdvanced brain tumors can affect anyone at any age and the prognosis is grim.
Symptoms of glioblastoma
July 19, 2023 is Glioblastoma Awareness Day. More than 14,000 Americans are expected to be diagnosed in 2023, with a five-year survival rate of about 7%, according to the report. National Brain Tumor Association.
symptoms It may vary depending on where the tumor is located in the brain.
The American Association of Neurosurgeons states: warning display include:
The exact cause of glioblastoma is unknown. Most patients have no family history or specific risk factors. American Brain Tumor Society Note.
“Completely shocked”
McMillan had a benign salivary gland tumor as a child, but said doctors did not link the two conditions and thought they were completely separate.
That childhood experience prompted her to enter the field of radiation oncology, becoming a certified medical dosimetrist, an expert in radiation treatment planning. McMillan knew about her glioblastoma and its prognosis as part of her job, but she never expected to be a patient.
“It wasn’t on my radar. I was completely shocked,” she says. “I never thought I would be so ill.”
To keep the cancer from spreading, McMillan underwent 30 radiation treatments over six weeks. She is taking chemotherapy drugs and is in a clinical trial of cancer drugs at the University of Oklahoma. OKN-007. She is on an IV drip three days a week.
McMillan also plans to use Optune, a glioblastoma cap-like medical device that sends low-dose electrical currents to the brain.
Glioblastoma has no cure and is difficult to treat because the cancer extends its tentacles into the brain rather than forming a solid mass that doctors can target and remove. The disease and its harsh treatment can affect cognition, mood, behavior and every function of the body, notes the American Brain Tumor Society.
McMillan is feeling brain swelling and fatigue from the treatment. Her life changed as she tried to cope with her daily challenges and take care of her family.
“I am used to doing everything myself and taking care of everyone.
“Of course[my kids]worry about their mothers, and we spend more time together, talk more, laugh more. Try to make the most of every day that we have spent together.”
McMillan said cancer is such a massive diagnosis that he still feels overwhelmed despite working in the field of oncology for nearly 30 years. She understands why patients who are new to the health care system are confused.
Her current focus is on staying stable with therapy and keeping her body strong.
“I am currently fighting the biggest battle I have ever faced, and I will continue to fight every day,” she says.
This article was originally published Today.com
