I was diagnosed with a brain cancer called DIPG.
My symptoms were pretty mild
- in October 2018 I noticed my right eye was not blinking in sync with my left eye. It was so unnoticeable that even when I showed my mother she could not see it. But I noticed.
-My mom took me to the doctor is November for what appeared to be pink eye. With just a glance at my eye the doc prescribed eye drops.
-The issue with my eye subsided
-January I noticed my right eye remained cracked (just a little) when I closed my eyes. I went back to my doctor and was told I needed I needed potassium. Eat bananas. That did not resolve anything. I started to feel like people did not see what I was seeing with the issue with my eye
January- I fainted but I didn’t tell my mom, I did not want to scare her
February 15- I lost my balance and fell randomly
February 27- at 7:00 am I was walking to my room, and fell down the stairs, with out tripping on anything. I figured I may have just been tired. I walked to school went on with my day. Towards the end of the day, I was laughing with my friends and noticed I could not feel the right side of my face. I went to the bathroom and saw that the right side of my face was paralyzed. That afternoon I showed my mom my face and we both agreed this has to be a simple case of bells pausy and we would go have it confirmed in the ER. We arrived and was rushed to the back, I went though a lot of neurological test before getting a ct scan. Less than 30 mins later I was told I had a “mass” in my brain. However I was transported to WHC because I am 18. I received an MRI there and was told my mass was DIPG a childhood illness and sent back to children’s where I was admitted at 5am to the PICU.
My mom refused was to believe I had DIPG because it’s a terminal brain cancer found in kids 6-10 years old. And I’m 18!!! So she ordered the neurosurgeon to perform a biopsy on 3/4/19
3/6/19 my DIPG was officially diagnosed.
By the time I was discharged from Children’s Hospital the tumor sitting on my brain stem has applied pressure to nerves that affect my balance, and the right side of my face.
WELCOME TO MY JOURNEY
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