A mother discovered she had cancer after originally dismissing symptoms as being caused by "dehydrated eyes".
The diagnosis came after Rachael Burns 22, from West Belfast, experienced severe headaches and discomfort in her eye eight months ago. Doctors originally put her symptoms down to dehydrated eyes, but an urgent visit to the Royal Victoria Hospital revealed a with a rare and aggressive mutation which led to the shocking news for Rachael and her family.
Rachael and partner Robert have a one-year-old daughter called Raeya, the family is seeking alternative treatments abroad which may prolong her life. Rachael says it has broken her heart to start writing birthday cards to her daughter for future years in which she may not be around, Belfast Live reports.
She said: “Until last week I had in my head all of this hope that I would still maybe have a few years but at my appointment last week I had to get my mum to leave the room because she didn’t want to hear anything about the prognosis. The consultant then told me that anyone who has come in with the same thing that I have only has nine to 12 months to live, and I’ve shown symptoms for the last eight.
“I was told to assume that that was the case and try to make the most of the next four months. I left that appointment with no real hope and I didn’t know how to tell my mum and the rest of the family, I didn’t want them to get upset. It felt like everything had just been taken away from me at that point.”
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Belfast mum, 22, given four months to live after devastating cancer diagnosis (BELFAST LIVE)The young mum added that her symptoms started off with some mild discomfort in her eye, migraines and dizzy spells. She said she wasn’t able to leave the house for months with her baby because of the migraines, she also added that initially doctors weren’t concerned enough to refer her to the hospital.
She said: “They eventually did a CT scan and found a large mass at the bottom of my brain and it was leaning on my central nervous system, so that’s why my eye had gotten so bad.” The 22-year-old said she was left on a bed in the hospital for four day in the acute area because they couldn’t get her into a proper room.
“Eventually they did an MRI scan and found what’s called a diffuse midline glioma brain tumour, because of where it is there is no chance they can operate on it. They said I would die if they even touched it so the only option for treatment at this point is radiotherapy for six weeks. With the hope now that I might be able to get some extra time with my family, that’s really what is keeping me going right now.”
And now, Rachael says the NHS limitation hasn't stopped her. The mum and her partner have looked at other medical options aboard, potentially having found a treatment in Germany known as ONC201 that would give her more time with her family. Rachael and her family are now fundraising to help get them to Germany. You can visit the fundraising
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