MEET ANDREA

It all initially began back in November 2017, right after I returned home from another missions trip to New Zealand. When I got home, I began having mild to severe headaches on and off. My headaches, at that point, felt like they were starting in the back of my head near my neck on the right side and so I decided to go to the massage therapist thinking that maybe my neck had a muscle that was out, and was pinching a nerve or something. After seeing the massage therapist several times (as well as the Chiropractor) I did not see any improvement in the headaches. In January, I developed a new symptom of an odd whooshing sound in my right ear. This sound was not continuous, but was loudest and most noticeable at night when I was lying down to go to sleep.

After several sleepless nights, I decided to make an appointment with my primary care doctor who turned out to be unable to diagnose me, and instead referred me to an Ear Nose and Throat (ENT) specialist who she felt would be able to help figure out what was the cause of the whooshing in my ear. The ENT doctor then ordered a CT scan of my neck in order to determine if there was any narrowing of any arteries near her right ear. Everything from the neck CT came back normal ,and the ENT doctor decided to then refer me to what he called a headache specialist (better know as a Neurologist). I saw the Neurologist who gave her a typical neurological test (strength, balance, memory, speech) which she passed, but the doctor decided to ordered her an MRI “just to be safe” . Needless to say everyone (including the neurologist) was shocked to receive the news that I had a golfball sized tumor on the right side of my brain. I under went brain surgery to have it removed just one week later. Then more bad news came 2 weeks later, when the pathology report returned. Pathology revealed an aggressive form of cancer cell (a grade 3 out of 4). This now meant under going radiation and chemo therapy. Since that point, there have been many highs and lows including an all time low of a horrible allergic reaction to the chemo. This allergic reaction is what set me on a journey to find an alternative treatment to the traditional chemo. I felt that my body was telling me to stop putting poison into it. My family and I made the courageous decision to stop the chemo and try some alternative things that are outside many doctors’ realm of thinking. I have been on that path ever since. Some days it feels like I am winning the battle. Other days, it feels like I am losing it, but through it all, my faith in Jesus has kept me going.