A WOMAN has been left heartbroken after her mum’s brain tumour affected her memory so badly that she is “stuck in 2012.”
Alisha Wilson, 25, was just 11 years old when her mum Gillian Wilson, 54, was diagnosed with a brain tumour in 2010.
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But after 17 surgeries and radiotherapy, Alisha, from Bridgeton, Glasgow, said her mum still thinks of her and her sister Abbie as little kids, adding that “it’s as if we’re living back in 2012”.
Gillian went to visit her GP in May 2010 after she began suffering from strong headaches and dizziness and was becoming forgetful.
At first, her pain was put down to stress and migraines, but she was referred to the opticians when the pain became unbearable for her.
An eye test found that Gillian had something behind her eye and she was taken to Southern General Hospital in Glasgow for an MRI scan.
The scan revealed a mass behind her pituitary gland, and Gillian was told that she had a craniopharyngioma brain tumour and had to undergo surgery to have it removed in June.
Alisha said the shock diagnosis had a heartbreaking effect on the family.
She said: “I was 11 at the time and didn’t have a clue what was going on.
“Mum was in hospital for weeks, and I wasn’t allowed in to see her. It was heartbreaking because I’m very close to Mum.
“I asked the nurses ‘Is Mum going to die?’ but they reassured me that they were doing their best.”
The surgery is thought to have gone well after surgeons managed to remove most of the tumour.
But by September Gillian became forgetful again and doctors found that it had grown back and filled up with fluid.
Surgeons then operated again to insert a shunt that would drain the fluid that had built up.
Alisha added: “The shunt managed to drain the fluid, but a few days later it had filled up again, so they operated on her again to fit a second shunt.
“Since the first operation, she had several setbacks leading to another 10 operations.”
Gillian underwent six weeks of radiotherapy which resulted in her losing her hair.
But in 2012, the double shunt had stopped working and Gillian had to undergo another six operations to try and fix it.
The much-loved mum is now living at home with her partner, Paddy, 54, who is her full-time carer.
Alisha, who is studying childhood development at Glasgow Kelvin College, said: “The brain tumour and subsequent treatments have left Mum with lots of serious health matters, including two types of diabetes because her pituitary gland was removed.
“Her memory is regressing; she remembers when my sister, Abbie, and I were little kids, as if we were living back in 2012.
“She still refers to Abbie, who is now 15, as the bairn.”
Alisha is now taking part in 10,000 Steps a Day in February for the charity Brain Tumour Research to find a cure for the disease.
She added: “I’m raising money for Brain Tumour Research because this is a cause that’s really close to my heart.
“Who knows where my mum would be if it wasn’t for all of the research that has already been done?
“If we can get funding for more research, then maybe others don’t need to go through what Mum has.”
Alisha has raised more than £2,500 for Brain Tumour Research through a number of fundraising events.
And she is also set to take part in the Glasgow Kiltwalk on Sunday, April 28.
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Katrina Jones, Head of Community Fundraising at Brain Tumour Research, said: “We’re really grateful to Alisha for taking on the 10,000 Steps a Day in February challenge as it’s only with the support of people like her that we’re able to progress our research into brain tumours and improve the outcome for patients like Gillian who are forced to fight this awful disease.”
Anyone looking to support Alisha’s fundraiser can do so here.
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