Profile-Revised

Anne Bernal went to her optometrist because she thought she needed glasses, she came away from that appointment having been told that she had a brain tumor. She had had extremely bad headaches for over six years."I just thought that they had to do with my menstruation period, I never had time to closer investigate them." Then, last April she started noticing that she was having a hard time focusing when she read. So she went to her local Costco to get her eyes checked. The optometrist on duty after doing simple tests told her that something was very wrong with her. She explained further that Anne did not have any peripheral vision. This could only mean two things: one she was having an aneurism at that very moment, or she had a brain tumor. She immediately went to her primary doctor. Within two weeks of finding out about the cancer, she had to have brain surgery. "It was so hard for my family and I, we had to rethink everything that was normal, my kids are so young, I was so scared for them."  Her family and friends did not even have time to get used to the thought of losing their wife, mom, and friend. The only thing they could do was pray for the best and start taking over her every day tasks. The surgery took place on a Tuesday and she was home from the hospital on Saturday. It was a miracle she was going to have a long recovery but she was going to be fine. Sadly, it was to good to be true, on Sunday evening she had a level 10 headache and was rushed back to the hospital by ambulance.

For the next week Anne was hanging on to her life by a string.  The part of the tumor that was left in her brain was bleeding.  She went into a comatose state because of the degree of pain that she was in. The doctors did not want to go back into her brain fearing what the complications would do to her. Yet, after a week of her almost dying multiple times they rushed her into emergency brain surgery on Friday afternoon.

She was in the ICU for over a month after her surgery. She finally was able to come home to her family but she would never be the same. Because of the second surgery she also had to have three surgeries after that due to the complications. A stint was put in her brain to her abdomen to drain the fluids in her brain; this caused syatica in her left leg, which she now lives with every day.  She then had to have radio surgery to eliminate the last bit of the tumor that they could not get in the operation. Thirdly, she had to have a staple that was in her head removed because it was hurting her.

It has been almost a year and a half since her last surgery. Her face was paralyzed from the second surgery. The tumor was on the left side of her brain, which means that only the right side of her face should be paralyzed, instead her entire face is still paralyzed. Although, some movement has come back she will never smile like she used to. "My husband tells me I still have a beautiful smile, but I disagree."  Her pictures before her surgery show her surrounded bya beautiful family, with a radiant smile. Now, when she smiles her neck looks as if it is straining, her mouth does not turn up anymore, it only forms a straight part in her mouth. She does not like pictures taken of her even though her family and friends insist that she looks great. 

After she was home for a couple of months she started having seizures on a weekly basis.  She also has daily headaches that are nothing like we can imagine, and the medication that she is given makes her feel worse than before and it does not help the pain. Lastly, she is going blind. The tumor was on her optical nerve. She will never drive and she even has to hold on to someone when walking because she still does not have any peripheral vision and she does not want to run into anything. "Sometimes I feel like a child, I am constantly being told I can't do things, that I need to take a nap, and then I have to be lead around like a baby."

You would think that this woman leads a bitter life and yet if you talk to this woman she is just happy that God gave her a few more years to be with her family. "I know I complain sometimes, but I thank God every day that I was able to see my daughter get married, that I can still watch my two sons play football and baseball, and that I can still be there for all those tough adolescent times a young teenage girl will go through, and most importantly I am thankful that I still have time with my husband who is a constant loving support to me."