Brain Tumour Signs and Symptoms
Each person diagnosed with a brain tumour will have different symptoms, and his or her own journey to a diagnosis.
While some people do not develop symptoms that indicate a tumour, others have symptoms that worsen over time, which lead to a diagnosis. Some people feel fine, but then experience a sudden onset of symptoms, such as a seizure, which lead to a quick and unexpected tumour diagnosis.
The following is a list of common symptoms which, alone or combined, can be caused by a brain tumour (malignant or non-malignant):
• frequent headaches;
• dizziness or unsteadiness;
• visual disturbance (such as double or blurred vision);
• seizures;
• morning nausea and vomiting;
• weakness or paralysis;
• personality, behavioural, or cognitive changes;
• hearing impairment.
If you or someone you care about experiences any of these symptoms, please consult your doctor.
Visit www.braintumour.ca or call1-800-265-5106 for helpful resources and more information.
Source: the Brain Tumour Foundation of Canada
You never think cancer is going to happen to you, especially if you’re young and healthy.
That’s what Kim LaFramboise thought. She was strong. She worked out and ate properly.
She thinks back to the day in 2015 when, at 40, all of that began to change.
“I noticed one day that I had some spots in my eyes. I went to the doctor, and he said it was normal for (someone) my age to get floaters, and so I didn't think too much of it," she said. But it kept getting worse. More spots. She started going to a specialist, who put her on all sorts of medication.
"It was just this eye,” she explained, pointing to her left eye. “And then, a year later, the other eye started … out of the blue. Both of my eyes were full of black spots. It looked like someone sprinkled pepper in my eyes.”
The next two years were filled with symptoms and tests, but no answers.
Her eyesight progressively declined, to the point it was severe enough to restrict her ability to drive. Then she started to struggle with her balance, and the blood tests and MRIs began.
“I was always leaning to the left or limping on the left. I knew something wasn't right," LaFramboise said. "My husband thought I was having a stroke because my face was droopy, too. We went to the emergency room, they did their tests, and they sent me home. They said they didn't find anything. A week later I was back in the emergency room a little worse. That's the night they sent me to the university.”
That year – 2017 – was spent mostly in hospital, while her husband stayed in charge of their two sons, then aged seven and 11.
At first, she thought she might have multiple sclerosis.
It wasn't until the end of that first month at the University of Alberta Hospital that she received her diagnosis – cancer, in her eyes and in her brain.
She spent the next four months at the Cross Cancer Institute for treatments. The chemotherapy shrunk the tumours, but there are still two marks – probably scar tissue – on the right side of her brain.
She needed rehabilitative training to help her body accommodate to losing the use of her left hand and foot. She spent two more months at the Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital.
Now, in the fourth year since her brain cancer diagnosis, she can celebrate. It has been nearly four years without a new tumour. Doctors told her the greatest chance of reoccurrence is in the first three years.
“When I hit that three-year milestone, it was a big relief," she said.
Brain cancer certainly left a profound and lasting effect on her life. It left her without much use of the left side of her body. It changed her ability to walk, to enjoy the outdoors, to work, and to work out.
“I used to be a very active person. It's affected that. I don't like being on my feet anymore. It's uncomfortable. Everything's a struggle with just one hand,” she said, adding she drives now thanks to some special adaptations on her vehicle. “I got my licence back a year after I got out of the hospital.”
Brain cancer also left her with a desire and a mission to remind people that, when something strange and inexplicable happens in the way your body normally functions, you have to be the one to take charge.
LaFramboise says her diagnosis came without a definitive cause. It just happened, and now all she can do is go forward as best she can with the love and support of a good family behind her.
"It's getting easier, but like you see, I can still tear up about it. It's not how I expected my older years to be," she said, her voice breaking. "I realize I'm very lucky. I do not feel good about being disabled now, but I still feel very lucky to be alive."
She runs the Lone Spruce Driving Range on Villeneuve Road with her brother and their spouses. Now, however, her work is mostly behind the scenes doing the paperwork and the advertising. Her family and friends have been great supports, and her experiences with the public have been mostly positive, too. Most people offer her help to make things easier.
In a less-than-perfect medical system, she wants people to be their own best friends and advocates.
"If they notice something different with their bodies – something changing – get it checked out and advocate for yourself, to make sure you catch whatever it is early and figure things out so it doesn't lead to something like this," she said.
"If I'd been caught earlier, I might still be able to have my left-hand side. They said it was a fast-growing, aggressive cancer, but I don't know how it can not be there one week and be there the next. I feel like somebody messed up somewhere, but I'll never know."
