A mum was told her severe headaches were a reoccurring sinus infection but now is on chemo and says she has been 'robbed' of watching her girls grow up.
Jennifer Roscoe, 39, began to suffer from severe headaches and was "feeling wobbly", until one day the "lights were too bright" in work and she had to go home. The St Helens mum went to her GP and was soon told she had a sinus infection and was referred to a Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) specialist at a private hospital.
But for the next six months, Jennifer was back and to from the GP as she was in "agony". On a bank holiday weekend in 2019, the pain was so bad she was forced to call an out of hours doctor who prescribed specialist migraine medication, which still did not work.
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Then in June 2019 that she was taken to A&E in Whiston as the pain became "unbearable" and her left hand side went numb where a scan showed she had a glioblastoma (GBM) brain tumour.
Speaking to the ECHO, the mum-of-two said: "I was at the point where they were telling me to get over it and crack on but I [kept] a diary and it was just getting worse. One day I took my daughter to nursery and it was locked so I started crying. The staff asked me what was up and I said I didn't know it wasn't open, I was really poorly.
"That weekend it became unbearable and my husband took me to A&E. It was really busy and they asked me to come back the next day and I did, they asked me to hang around because the on call doctor wanted to see me. I was relieved when they told me because I knew what was up with me, but my husband was devastated, his dad had not long passed away from cancer."
Just days later, Jennifer had surgery at the Walton Centre in Liverpool where they successfully removed the whole tumour But in April 2022, an MRI scan revealed the tumour had grown back in three different areas which was a "huge setback".
The mum is now on chemotherapy indefinitely as she urges others to know the signs. As March marks brain tumour awareness month, Jennifer is bravely sharing her story.
She said: "Health professionals do need to take people seriously. I was being treated like someone who was just moaning about nothing and I'm not a person who does, I have a high pain threshold.
"Don't sit down and ignore it, seek health from others who have been diagnosed and push for answers."
Speaking to the Brain Tumour Research, Jennifer said: "This brain tumour has robbed me of the hope of getting old. It’s crushing because there are so many things I want to witness in my girls’ lives, such as seeing them grow up, getting their first boyfriends, and having their own children."
According to the Brain Tumour Research charity, brain tumours kill more children and adults under the age of 40 than any other cancer. Common symptoms include:
- Continuing nausea, vomiting
- Extreme or sudden drowsiness
- Ringing in the ears or hearing loss
- Unexplained twitches of the face or limbs
- Seizures
- Appearing to be lost in a deep daydream for a short while
- Confusion
- Loss of balance
- Numbness or weakness in the arms or legs, especially if progressive and leading to paralysis
- Numbness or weakness in a part of the face, so that the muscles drop slightly
- Numbness or weakness on one side of the body, resulting in stumbling or lack of co-ordination
- Changes in personality or behaviour
- Impaired memory or mental ability, which may be very subtle to begin with
- Changes in senses, including smell
- Problems with speech, writing or drawing
- Loss of concentration or difficulty in concentrating
- Changes in sleep patterns
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