Young widower’s warning over brain tumour symptoms to look our for

A young widower has shared the story of his wife who tragically passed away in 2019 – just six months after a devastating diagnosis.

Alan Johnstone shared that his late wife, Anneka, originally brushed off her worrying dizziness as ‘baby brain’ following the birth of their daughter Sienna. However, Anneka actually had a glioblastoma grade IV, or a malignant brain tumour. She died six months after her diagnosis.

Now, the widower is warning people to take their symptoms seriously and get themselves checked out if they could possibly have a brain tumour.

Alan, who is running the London Marathon in her memory this year, explained that it can be easy to brush off symptoms, or attribute them to other illnesses or even just ‘baby brain’ and stress.

However, with brain tumours, getting an early diagnosis is key. Keeping an eye out for these common symptoms could help save a life, reports InYourArea.

Brain tumour symptoms

Brain tumour symptoms depend on where in the brain it is. Common symptoms include:

• headaches (often worse in the morning and when coughing or straining)
• fits (seizures)
• regularly feeling sick (vomiting)
• memory problems or changes in personality
• weakness, vision problems or speech problems that get worse

If you have any of these symptoms and they don’t seem to be going away you should see your GP. While it is unlikely it will be a tumour, it is better to be sure.

Brain tumour information and support

Anyone who wants more information on the different types of brain tumours and cancers can look at the Cancer UK website. They also offer advice and support for anyone who needs it.

If you have any of these symptoms and they don’t seem to be going away you should see your GP. While it is unlikely it will be a tumour, it is better to be sure.

Anyone who wants more information on the different types of brain tumours and cancers can look at the Cancer UK website. They also offer advice and support for anyone who needs it.

Brain tumour treatments

When treating a brain tumour, the aim is to remove as much of the tumour as possible and then try to stop it from coming back. The main treatments are:

• surgery –  a small section of skull is removed and the tumour is cut out. The piece of skull is then fixed back in place
• radiotherapy – radiation from an external machine is then used to kill cancer cells after surgery
• chemotherapy – in this case medicine is used to kill the cancer cells after surgery, or simply to relieve symptoms if the tumour can’t be removed
• radiosurgery – lots of tiny beams of radiation are aimed at the cancer to kill it if surgery is not possible
• carmustine implants (glial wafers) – this is a new way of giving chemotherapy for some high-grade tumours where implants are inserted into the brain

The survival rate of a malignant brain tumour depends on how big it is, where abouts in the brain it is and the what grade it is. In some cases if can be cured if caught early, but brain tumours often come back and in many cases it is impossible to remove it.

Outlooks are completely different from person to person, but care teams will have more information that they can share with you if you are diagnosed. For anyone concerned, there is more information available here.