A young mum who is fundraising to raise awareness after being diagnosed with an inoperable stage four brain tumour was recently given the honour of opening a new imaging academy at Edge Hill University.
Laura Mahon, formerly from Great Sankey, Warrington, but now living in Lea Green near St Helens is living with an inoperable brain tumour after becoming unwell when she was 20 weeks pregnant.
She says she felt honoured to be given the opportunity to open the imaging academy where she also spoke to more than 120 doctors and consultants. Brain tumours kill more children and young people under 40 than any other cancer.
Laura has now launched a fundraising page to help raise awareness Justgiving.com/fundraising/lauraelizabethmahon
Taking up her story she said: “When I was 20 weeks pregnant I became poorly, I noticed that my right foot had become numb and I could no longer move it and was struggling to walk. Doctors thought it was the baby laying on a nerve, I was sent for an MRI of my back. This came back clear and I was sent for another MRI scan on my Brain to make sure everything was okay, I was now 24 weeks pregnant, I was in the machine for 5 mins when they pulled me out cause they could see something.
“They sent me back in the MRI and I lay there for an hour, I could see into the radiology room as doctors appeared all looking at my scan. I was pulled into a room with my mum and was told the devastating news that I had a Brain tumour. They told me it had more than likely been there for years and years and now had started growing. Treatment options were limited as I was pregnant and this was a very unique case so we decided to wait too see what happened.
“Around 27 weeks pregnant I became really poorly and could hardly walk, and after many heartbreaking conversations and the toughest decision me and my partner Danny have ever made, we decided to bring our daughter into the world at 30 weeks. On the 30th November 2021, our beautiful daughter Sienna Grace Laura Mahon was born weighing just 3.4lbs at Warrington hospital. I had her via a planned c section under general anaesthetic.
“Sienna was taken to the neonatal ward where she was placed in an incubator. She developed pneumothorax (A collapsed lung) and needed a higher care unit so she was transferred to Oldham Hospital on just day 2 of her life. Me and Danny left Warrington and followed her there. Driving back and forth between there and The Walton Centre in Liverpool for appointments. All the staff we’ve encountered at each hospital have been amazing and so supportive. I cannot thank them enough for looking after our baby and us.
“I was due for brain surgery on 10th December 2021, unfortunately, though the day before we were told this was no longer an option, I’d had another MRI scan that day with contrast dye and this had shown that the tumour had grown a large amount and it was now inoperable due to location and growth. Instead, they could only do a biopsy and remove around 10/15% of it. I went under general anaestic again for the second time in 10 days, this time I was under for around 4 hours. This took a long time to recover from. I left hospital on the 14th and I was now at home recovering from two major surgeries.
“We then had the wait for the results, we received them on 22nd December 2021. Me and Danny had prepared ourselves for the worst, we knew deep down inside what it was going to be but being told at 29 years old you have inoperable Stage 4 Brain Cancer with not a great prognosis.
“In January 2022 I began Radiotherapy and chemotherapy at Clatterbridge in Liverpool. I have had 6 weeks of radiotherapy and just completed 6 months of chemotherapy. My tumour is currently stable and I will now be monitored by 3 monthly scans.”
