In March of 2023, I began having symptoms of nausea, tiredness, and unsteadiness. I even started missing many days of my senior year of high school because I couldn’t function. On Saturday, April 1st, I was on my way to go prom dress shopping, and I collapsed and could not walk. I went to the ER and started puking over and over. The ER had me take a pregnancy test and it came back positive, even though I had never had sex before. I expressed this over and over again, but the hospital claimed I was pregnant and needed to go home and prepare for my baby. Over the next four days, my symptoms became debilitating. After not being able to walk (or hardly talk) over the next five days, I visited three more ER’s, each time being denied care because they said I was “pregnant.” Finally, on April 7th, my mom lost her mind and demanded that more testing be done. At that time, a CT scan of my head was done and it was discovered that I had more than five brain tumors. I was immediately transferred to the Neuro ICU and underwent emergency brain surgery to save my life.
After the surgery, I was added to the “brain board” of the midwest – which is the best and brightest neuro doctors/surgeons/oncologists/etc in the midwest. On April 12th, I had another brain surgery before I was transferred to Children’s Mercy Hospital and began chemotherapy. I have had six rounds of chemotherapy treatment, a bone marrow transplant, and I am currently undergoing proton radiation. I have not yet recovered from the bone marrow transplant as my doctors hoped, so I might have another bone marrow transplant after my radiation is complete.
Shelby’s LifeList:
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VIP Trip to Universal Studios in Florida