Alannah’s Story
Alannah was diagnosed with a glioblastoma at the age of 32 in February 2020. Living in Tipperary, she cared for her three children of 4, 5 and 18 months.
Alannah had experienced headaches and dizziness on and off for a number of years, but after being hospitalised for a seizure, doctors discovered a large mass on her brain. She underwent brain surgery, which successfully removed 90% of the mass.
Unfortunately a few weeks later, Alannah received the devastating news that she had a high grade brain cancer. She recalls hearing the news over the phone:
“I was waiting weeks for the call and had so many questions I wanted to ask but when I heard the news I couldn’t speak, I could breathe, I couldn’t see, I was crying so much. I just didn’t know what to do”
Her doctors said if she underwent treatment she would have a 50% chance of living longer than 2 years. Her treatment included 30 sessions of radiotherapy, followed by 6 months of chemotherapy.
She endured all of this while going through a pandemic.