A mother who works with brain tumour patients missed the symptoms of her own cancer for months before being given a terminal diagnosis.
Neuro physiotherapist Rosie Croft, 36, from Glasgow, was diagnosed with a stage three brain tumour in 2016, 10 months after her daughter Imogen was born. The new mum began suffering migraines and nightly bouts of sickness, initially putting it down to a lack of sleep and post natal depression.
But after waking up with double vision one morning, she visited an optician, where signs of pressure were spotted behind her eyes, reports the Daily Record. Devastatingly, doctors at Ninewells hospital in Dundee diagnosed a glioblastoma tumour. Ms Croft said: "I'm a neuro physiotherapist and I should've recognised the signs. I felt stupid when I found out what was wrong with me — I thought I just couldn't cope with my baby.
"When I found out what was wrong, I kicked myself — I was treating people with brain tumours all the time in hospital. I should've recognised all the signs. I couldn't believe it was happening to me, and it still doesn't feel real at all."
Ms Croft underwent six hours of brain surgery at Glasgow Queen Elizabeth University Hospital before going on to have year of chemotherapy and six weeks of gruelling radiotherapy treatments. She was then able to live a relatively normal life with daughter Imogen and partner John Paterson until August last year, when she had two serious seizures.
Sadly, medics identified a new growth in her brain deemed inoperable and heartbroken Ms Croft is now counting the days until the end of her life. She said: "I had four years where I was completely stable and then one day last year John found me with blue lips and my eyes rolling to the back of my skull. I've always known I wouldn't survive the tumour but I had almost started to feel hopeful.
"But I asked one of the doctors if there was ever such a thing as a miracle in these situations - he shut it down right away and said no." In recent months, Rosie's tumour has had such a debilitating effect on her mobility that she has been confined to a wheelchair. She will soon have to move in with her mother, as the family's flat is spread across two floors.
Ms Croft said she had come to terms with her diagnosis and that her main goal now was to give her daughter as many happy memories as possible. She said: "I was really depressed for a while but I think I'm at peace with the fact I am going to die. Imogen is now seven and in P3 — she knows I've got cancer but I can't bear to tell her that things have got worse. I just want to make sure she has got a happy life ahead of her, that's my focus now."
Ms Croft and Imogen are planning a trip to the Harry Potter Studio Tour in London this month and have already embarked on several trips to Legoland so the mother and daughter can share experiences to remember. Her brother Brendan, a sports journalist, has also offered to interview her about her life, to give Imogen more ways to remember her.
She is also determined to make sure her final days are spent educating people on the symptoms of tumours while her loved ones help her raise cash to benefit the work on better treatment. Mary White, a lifelong friend who she met while studying physiotherapy at Glasgow Caledonian University, has raised more than £2,000 for Brain Tumour Research after completing a charity walk in September.
Ms Croft said: "My downward spiral has come on much quicker than I thought and it's breaking my family's heart. We need to find cures for brain tumours because they kill so many people and a lot of children. If they can find a cure it would be incredible, even if I won't be around to see it."
Mary's fundraiser in aid of Brain Tumour Research can be viewed and sponsored here.
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