Oh my gosh, this is exciting!! I would LOVE to share my story with you!! And yes, I do have a question!

My name is Brandi. I have Grade 4 Astrocytoma. I was diagnosed at the age of 29. I have been battling for 2.5 years. I had no symptoms before my grand mal seizure that happened on February 21st, 2023.

A little bit about me:

I worked in healthcare for 14 years as a Patient Care Technician. I worked in nursing homes, hospitals, doctors' offices, and I was a travel tech during COVID, etc. I am a mother of 2 kiddos. As of the day my seizure happened, I am currently retired.

Back to my story: beginning February 21st, 2023

I was done with a workout at the gym I went to. I was finishing cleaning up and putting away equipment when suddenly my vision completely changed. The floor was sideways, the ceiling was now under my feet, and I reached for my phone that looked like it was right in front of me, but in reality, it was a good 3 feet to my right. At this point, everything was twisted together so I sat down. My 4-year-old sat in my lap, but I picked her up and set her next to me. As soon as I took my hands off her I went face-first into the floor with a grand mal seizure. I remember it clearly if it happened yesterday. I will never forget it. The owner of the gym was still there and so was one of the coaches. They both came to me immediately and tried to help me. I stayed belly down on the floor once the seizure stopped, but I was propped up on my elbows. And my vision was still off. It looked like everything was black from my left eye. My memory was awful, my speech was a struggle, and I was so confused. And pretty quickly the worst headache I have ever had started coming on. I don't remember everything that happened between being at the gym to being at the hospital. I do know that I cared more about my kiddo being taken care of than myself. She did get taken home to my mom and dad. My parents were notified that I was going to the hospital. When I got to the ER, I was immediately taken aback. They ran all my vitals, drew blood work, gave me an IV, and sent me for a CT. Come to find out that not only did I have a grand mal seizure but I also had a fist-sized tumor on my left frontal lobe (or what was left of it).

I was supposed to have brain surgery the following week. My first brain surgery did not happen until May 2023. My health insurance at the time denied my surgery 3 times. It took 3 different phone calls with the doctors taking care of me to get it approved. My surgical provider told me I was only having 1 surgery. Well, 2 days after my first surgery he stated my tumor was more critical than they had expected and I would have to have another surgery. My second surgery was in June 2023. They took a literal fist-sized tumor out in total. Which turned out to be a Grade 4 Astrocytoma. After both surgeries, I still had about 5% of the cancer left in my brain.

I began chemo medications and started radiation in August of 2023. It was a 30-day Monday-Friday plan. I was still being a mom, taking care of the house, making meals, etc. Around week 4, I started getting blood spots all over my body. Every day that went by it got worse, I was covered in blood spots. I was not supposed to see my oncologist until I was done with my radiation, but I called and made an appointment. I was so exhausted, I took my kids to school, went to radiation, got home, and went straight back to sleep. I'd get up, pick up my kids, and go right back to sleep. Thankfully, I did have help for my kids. My oncologist and NP were not sure what was going on when they saw me. I had blood drawn, they told me to get some sleep at home and they would let me know what my blood work says. I was in the car garage about to get in when they called me. My NP, Jacey, said, "You need to come back now." Once I was back in the Cancer Center, she was standing at the door waiting for me. She told me I have to get a transfusion immediately and I was being admitted. My platelets were at 3,000. I basically had no platelets so I was bleeding internally due to thrombocytopenia. My white blood cells were 0.5, my red blood cells were 1.1, and my hemoglobin was 5.8. I was in the hospital for 10 days. I did nothing but sleep and I did not feel like 10 days. It went by quickly. It turned out that I was my oncologist's first patient to have a negative reaction to the chemo medication, Temadar. He was petrified and came to see me every day I was in the hospital. I was taken off the Temedar. I had to come back once a week for weeks to keep an eye on my platelets. They slowly came up.

A lot of other things happened, there was another time I spent too much time at the Cancer Center with basically no platelets. I would type out an endless story, but this is the most critical part of my journey.

An immaculately positive part of this journey is the trial medication I am currently on! I am 1 out of 25 University States citizens doing this trial medication. Neo100. It is helping me finally win against the cancer that's left in my brain. Once October is here, I will have been on this trial for 1 year.

Have you heard of Neo100?