A woman was diagnosed with a brain tumor after suffering a week of migraines and “tingling” in her face.
Kimberly Bagley, 27, started suffering from migraines in June 2023 and was sent home from work.
She then started feeling a “tingling” pain on the left side of her face, so she went to see a doctor and was told that she needed to rest.
A week after the migraines began, Kimberly’s husband Luke Bagley, 28, took their 6-year-old son George swimming, but when they returned home, Kimberly had a seizure, passed out, and ended up in bed. there was.
She was rushed to hospital under a blue light, and CT and MRI scans revealed she had a brain tumor.
She underwent craniotomy to remove 95% of the tumor and was told she had a grade 3 astrocytoma, a rare and aggressive malignant brain tumor.
Kimberly has undergone 33 radiation treatments and is currently undergoing chemotherapy.
Kimberley, a primary school teacher from Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, said “You have a brain tumor” are the five words that have changed our lives for the time being.
“You never think something like this will happen to you, but when it does, your entire world revolves around something you know nothing about. It’s scary. That’s it.
“If you are diagnosed with a brain tumor, your life will end.
“There are so many unknowns ahead of you and a long process of putting other parts of your life on hold.
“For me and others living with brain tumors, it’s time for a change. That’s why research into more effective treatments is urgently needed.”
Kimberly suffered from a migraine at work and was sent home.
She started feeling tingling pain in her face, so she went to her local doctor and the emergency department about five times, but was sent home with a prescription for painkillers.
“I should take time for myself, I should go to the spa, and ‘this isn’t a brain tumor’ were all the things I was told that week,” Kimberly said.
“I never thought it would happen. I didn’t know anything about brain tumors and I was so indifferent to life that I never thought it would happen.”
After a week in bed, Kimberly’s husband Luke took their son George swimming, but when they returned home Kimberly had a seizure and was unconscious in bed.
“I was scared and didn’t know what was going on,” Kimberly said.
“Never in a million years did I think it would turn out to be a brain tumor. I was completely confused.”
Kimberley was taken to Royal Stoke University Hospital in Stoke-on-Trent after being exposed to blue light, where she suffered another seizure.
She was taken to the neurology ward, where an MRI and CT scan revealed a tumor in her brain.
Kimberly said: “At that moment, your entire world collapses.
“I know it sounds cliché, but I don’t see how things are going to get better, and that’s scary.
“My husband was scared and didn’t know what was going to happen.”
Kimberly then underwent a craniotomy (a surgery to open the skull and access the brain) in June 2023.
The surgery was successful and doctors were able to remove 95% of the tumor and send it for biopsy.
A biopsy revealed that Kimberly had a grade 3 astrocytoma, a rare and aggressive malignant brain tumor.
Kimberly said: “I remember feeling relieved when my consultant told me it wasn’t the worst tumor, but it wasn’t the best either.
“I’m a very positive person and always try to make the best out of a situation, so I was quite naive when I was first diagnosed.
“I thought I was going to have surgery, but that was it.”
A month after the first surgery, she developed an infection that required further surgery and the removal of part of her skull.
Since then, she has also battled sepsis, which delayed starting treatment.
But now she has completed 33 rounds of radiation therapy and is undergoing her 10th round of chemotherapy.
“The person my diagnosis has had the biggest impact on is my husband,” Kimberly said.
“He had to continue working while taking care of me and my son.
“He has taken on two roles this past year, becoming a mother and a father.
“My little son thought it was hard at first. One day he said, ‘Mommy, are you going to die?’ That was hard to hear.
“They and my family have been affected, but it must be horrible for them to see their loved ones go through something so terrible.”
Since her diagnosis, Kimberley has rappelled down Anfield Stadium to raise $9,103 for Brain Tumor Support, and in Stoke-on-Trent to help others with a cancer diagnosis. Started a group.
Brain tumor charity has awarded a $292,611 Future Leaders grant to fund research investigating better ways to treat high-grade brain tumors like Kimberley disease using immunotherapy approaches .
Simon Newman, chief scientific officer at the Brain Tumor Charity, said:
“By understanding the immune system and how it responds to brain tumors, we hope to improve immunotherapy treatment options and make similar advances in brain tumors as in other cancers.
“Funding through our Future Leaders program will help us continue to transform the research landscape and accelerate treatments for this disease.”
