Name: Debbie
Our mum was diagnosed with Brain Cancer in May 2014 and passed away March 4th 2017 at the age of 56.
Her tumour was a stage 4 GBM and was located in her right frontal lobe. It was first discovered when she had a sudden seizure out of the blue, when she was away on a girls trip with her friends.
At the beginning of her diagnosis, we were given a time frame of 18 months.
She had a total of 3 brain tumour removal surgeries and went into remission once, however the tumour then ended up spreading to all parts of her brain. She was on a tablet form of chemotherapy for 6 weeks when first diagnosed and also travelled from Colac to Geelong for radiation appointments, this combination made her very very sick and bedridden a lot, lots of vomiting and lethargy and she did lose parts of her hair.
Mum was also on a trial drug called ABT 414 which caused vision loss. She suffered many episodes of clonic tonic seizures one which lasted 47 hours where she was eventually intubated in ICU. She also had weakness in her arms and legs, hallucinations, headaches, constant seizures, memory loss, she couldn't hold onto things like her hair brush and used a walking frame.
Mum always wanted to live her life to the absolute fullest, she was always busy doing something, whether volunteering, gardening, cooking, exercising, being around her family and friends or the footy/netball club.
She leaves behind her 4 adult children and 1 grandchild (at the time)
Brain Cancer is a horrible disease to watch someone go through, fight and battle with every single day. There needs to be more awareness to this awful disease and more funds raised so we can find a cure.
Breanna, Kris, Holly and Sarah