Filmmaker Grace Wethor, based in Los Angeles, was 13 when she heard of the massive tumor that pressed on her brain. She had six months to live.
But a decade later she leads a complete and lively life – the opportunities defend in what doctors call a ‘miracle’ case.
In 2015 she started to experience headaches and attacks, so she went to the hospital. Doctors found a tumor in her brainstem, called a glioma, a typical deadly cancer with minimal treatment options that are often unsuccessful.
Doctors said she had about six months to live until the cancer, who has a survival percentage of about eight percent, killed her.
Wethor said: ‘Because my tumor is so difficult to treat, I was able to leave the hospital and spend my “last six months” what I love.
“During those first six months, when I thought they might be my last, I made a mission to do something creative every day.”
She painted, taught herself how to play the guitar and made fashion a form of self -expression. She visited museums with her mother, of which she said it was “crucial to keep my mind away from my diagnosis and current health conditions.”
Although she never received treatment, her symptoms – headache, fatigue and attacks – became manageable with a healthy balance between mindfulness and physical health.
Ten years ago doctors discovered a tumor in her brainstem – usually fatal cancer. Nevertheless, Wethor has defeated the opportunities, a lively life full of adventure and creativity
“It’s not always perfect, but I have found ways to work with my body instead of it,” she said. “I can lead a complete and relatively normal life for most days … I don’t assume I have time.”
Now, an advocate for cancer research, Wethor MRI scans undergoes, for fear that the cancer has grown. But she did not have that fear taken over from her life.
A glioma of the brainstem is a tumor that develops in the area that connects the brain to the spinal cord and can be supplied in different varieties based on the specific type of glial cell.
The brainstem is crucial in controlling vital functions such as breathing, heart rate, swallowing and movement.
Damage to it can lead to a wide range of devastating effects that lurk fears around the corner, including breathing difficulties, swallowing problems and cognitive decline.
Gliomas of the brainstem are rare and more common in children than adults. Every year there are around 300 cases in adults and 500 cases in children.
It is the same cancer president Joe Biden’s son who had Beau. He was diagnosed in 2013 and died two years later.
“My doctors cannot explain why I survived,” she said. “I still have my tumor, but it has not grown in a wonderful way.”
There is no treatment for this form of cancer, so she wonders when her regular MRI scan shows that the tumor has grown and the pressure on her brain has deteriorated.
Doctors do not know what the tumor has encouraged to develop, how it can respond to the treatment, what the best available treatments are or that it comes back if a patient achieves remission.
Grace Wethor in 2020. Although not in treatment, her symptoms – headache, fatigue and epileptic seizures – are manageable with a healthy balance between mindfulness and physical health
“The hope is that one day a test or new treatment will arise that can help tumors in this area of the brain,” she said
The expectations of WETHOR EXCHANDEN is downright wonderful, given the small chance of surviving her as a teenager.
She said: ‘Due to the complexity of the brainstem, doctors are unable to perform biopsy or surgery on these tumors.
“This means that as soon as these tumors begin to grow, not much can be done to help the patient – mainly because chemotherapy and radiation also have a small chance of working.”
The effect of radiation is often short -lived, chemotherapy often fails and there are no targeted therapies.
When the symptoms appear, such as double vision, unclear speech and imbalance, the cancer has spread outside the help.
“The hope is that one day a test or new treatment will arise that can help tumors in this area of the brain,” she said.
“There have been some progress, but we still have a long way to go.”
Grace Wethor in 2024
Grace Wethor with her mother in 2023. Now she is approaching every day as an adventure, knowing that no one is guaranteed tomorrow, brain tumor or not. This experience had made that truth impossible to ignore
From the outside, she said, nobody would know she has a brain tumor. And although she still gets headaches and other symptoms, she has been able to find creative points of sale.
The cancer could worsen at any time, but Wethor is not afraid of death.
Social workers would ask her if she was afraid of dying, but she realized that it was the wrong question.
“Really what I should have been asked was whether I was afraid of living – living with this reality and wondering how long I and others could live under that stress and unknown,” she said.
“I try to live as an adventure every day, because no one has guaranteed a quantity of time, brain tumor or no brain tumor, and this experience has made that impossible to ignore.”
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