Heartbreaking News for a Young Family
- Matthew Ellis, 32, has been told he is unlikely to live until Christmas this year after a shocking incurable brain tumor diagnosis that came after he thought he had COVID-19.
- Ellis and his wife have four children, and his cousin is raising money for the family to use to make memories during the time they have left together.
- Symptoms of brain tumors are often caused by increased pressure in the skull. Symptoms may include headache, nausea, vomiting, blurred vision, balance problems, personality or behavior changes, seizures, drowsiness or even comas. It is important to note that these symptoms are not exclusive to brain tumors some of them, like headache, nausea and vomiting, can also be symptoms of COVID-19.
- When Lisa Schaible was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, she was worried about her three kids. She tried to present her diagnosis and treatment to them in a careful way that, she says, helped them get through her cancer journey.
In October 2020, Ellis and his wife went to the hospital thinking he had the coronavirus because he was struggling to eat and feeling unwell. Unfortunately, doctors concluded that the 32 year old actually had multiple tumors in his brain. And this isn’t the first time tragedy has struck the family. Ellis actually overcame melanoma in his left shoulder after a 2017 diagnosis.
Read More“[Matthew] had his first seizure today resulting in him cracking his head open,” she wrote. “He has been told that this is the start of his condition getting worse.”
He has four children, and, at the time of his tumor diagnosis, his youngest was only three weeks old. He’s been told the heartbreaking news that he is unlikely to make it to Christmas this year, but he’s been undergoing various treatments to spend as much time with his family as possible.
Understanding Brain Tumors
According to the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), brain tumors account for 85 to 90 percent of all primary central nervous system (CNS) tumors. The central nervous system consists of the brain and spinal cord and acts as the main "processing center" for the nervous system, according to the American Cancer Society. Normal function of the brain and spinal cord can become difficult if there's a tumor present that puts pressure on or spreads into nearby normal tissue.
There are many different types of brain and spinal cord tumors. Some are more likely to spread into nearby parts of the brain or spinal cord than others. Slow-growing tumors may be considered benign, but even these tumors can cause serious problems.
Symptoms of Brain Tumors
Symptoms of brain tumors are often caused by increased pressure in the skull. This pressure can be caused by tumor growth, swelling in the brain or blockage of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), according to the American Cancer Society.
General symptoms may include the following:
- Headache
- Nausea
- Vomiting
- Blurred vision
- Balance problems
- Personality or behavior changes
- Seizures
- Drowsiness or even coma
But it is important to note that these symptoms are not exclusive to brain tumors some of them, like headache, nausea and vomiting, can also be symptoms of COVID-19.
Being a Parent while Your Health is Suffering
According to his cousin Samantha Bytheway, Matthew Ellis and his family have been “incredibly strong” throughout this heartbreaking time. Still, to try to help the family as Ellis nears the one-year life span he was given, Bytheway set up a GoFundMe page to raise money for the family to use to make memories during the time they have left together.
“Hopefully if we all pull together we can give this family some precious memories because let’s face it in the end memories are all we have left,” Bytheway wrote on the fundraiser page.
Making memories and trying to provide your children with a sense of normalcy as you deal with any kind of health issue can be very challenging but also very rewarding. When Lisa Schaible was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, she immediately thought of her three kids.
‘I Wanted to Keep Things with My Kids as Normal as Possible’ Lisa Schaible Survivor Story
“I realized that what I really wanted to do was still contribute to our daily lives each day,” she previously told SurvivorNet. “So if I could manage getting the kids to preschool, if I could manage taking them on a walk or fixing them lunch or dinner, I felt like I was still engaging with my family. And that was really what kept me motivated every day: I want to spend as much time with my kids and do and keep things as normal as possible.”
Fortunately for Schaible, the anticipation of chemotherapy was more stressful than the actual treatments themselves.
“And it wasn't a big deal for the kids,” she said. “Though I think that also speaks to how we presented it to them.”
To help her children understand what she was going through, Schaible made a paper chain with them that represented her treatments.
“They could rip a link off each week and see the countdown of when it was going to be done,” she explains. “I think that really helped.”
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