Michele Holland - Age 26
Diagnosed April 13, 2005
Astrocytoma
2001, after being married just one year, I had my first of many grand mal seizures while driving on the interstate to a friend's house, I was told in the emergency room that it was just heat stroke and they let a former student of mine drive me back to my car. Thus begins our story. I say OUR, because it really isn't just MY story, but rather the story of my whole family and the small group of friends who have rallied around us, supporting us along our journey. I kept having seizures and soon realized that this was something more than heatstroke. It turned out to be a quite sizable brain tumor. The first biopsy came back and I was diagnosed with astrocytoma. This type of cancer grows and spreads quickly. The second biopsy was sent to a different lab and it came back as an oligo so it turned out that I had a stage two mixed glioma. Surgery was scheduled for the day before Thanksgiving. Everything seemed to work, all my fingers and toes.... I could walk and hear. We thought it was fabulous, and it was. However, I had horrible headaches, which began to occur daily and the seizures continued. There were also numerous side effects from the medications. Other than that (or in spite of that) I felt blessed. It was in 2004 that my symptoms began to get worse and we met with Dr. Brem again. Surgery was scheduled so fast I didn't even have time to react or think about it. My tumor grade changed to a stage 3, now making it an aniplasticoligoastrocytoma In 2006, by the Grace of God, Curtis and I had a healthy baby boy, Charles Ray Holland, who lights up my sky. My labor was induced when I had a grand mal seizure during my 8th month. Since Charlie's birth, I have undergone one more surgery and have finished 7 weeks of radiation and chemo and now am in my 6 mos treatment of chemo therapy. Things are not easy, but I am a survivor! Thanks be to God.
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