A mum who works with brain tumour patients devastatingly missed her own symptoms.
Neuro physiotherapist Rosie Croft, 36, from Glasgow, was diagnosed with a stage three brain tumour in 2016, 10 months after her daughter Imogen was born. Now, she has issued a warning to others after missing the symptoms of her own cancer for months before being given a terminal diagnosis.
The new mum began suffering from migraines and nightly bouts of vomiting and initially put it down to a lack of sleep and post natal depression. But after waking up with double vision one morning, Rosie visited an opticians, where signs of pressure were spotted behind her eyes, reported The Daily Record.
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Devastatingly, doctors at Ninewells in Dundee diagnosed Rosie with a glioblastoma tumour. Rosie said: "I'm a neuro physiotherapist and I should've recognised the signs. I felt stupid when I found out what was wrong with me - I thought I just couldn't cope with my baby.
"When I found out what was wrong, I kicked myself - I was treating people with brain tumours all the time in hospital, I should've recognised all the signs. I couldn't believe it was happening to me, and it still doesn't feel real at all."
Rosie underwent six hours of brain surgery at Glasgow's Queen Elizabeth University Hospital before going on to have year of chemotherapy and six weeks of gruelling radiotherapy treatments. She was then able to live a relatively normal life with daughter Imogen and partner John Paterson until August last year, when she had two serious seizures.
Sadly, medics identified a new growth inside her brain that has been deemed inoperable and heartbroken Rosie is now counting the days until the end of her life. She added: "I had four years where I was completely stable and then one day last year John found me with blue lips and my eyes rolling to the back of my skull. I've always known I wouldn't survive the tumour but I had almost started to feel hopeful.
"But I asked one of the doctors if there was ever such a thing as a miracle in these situations - he shut it down right away and said no."
In recent months, Rosie's tumour has had such a debilitating effect on her mobility that she has been left having to rely on a wheelchair. She will have to move in with her mum as the flat she shares with John and Imogen is spread across two floors. Rosie says she has come to terms with her diagnosis and that main goal now is to give Imogen as many happy memories as she possibly can.
She continued: "I was really depressed for a while but I think I'm at peace with the fact I am going to die. Imogen is now seven and in P3 - she knows I've got cancer but I can't bear to tell her that things have gotten worse. I just want to make sure she has got a happy life ahead of her, that's my focus now."
Rosie and Imogen are planning a trip to the Harry Potter Studio Tour in London this month and have already embarked on several trips to Legoland so the mother and daughter can share experiences to remember. Rosie's brother Brendan, a sports journalist, has also offered to interview her about her life to give Imogen more ways of remembering her mum.
But brave Rosie is also determined to make sure that her final days are spent educating people on the symptoms of tumours while her loved ones help her to raise cash that will benefit medics trying to work towards better treatment. Lifelong pal of Rosie's, Mary White, who she met while studying physiotherapy at Glasgow Caledonian University, has since raised over £2,000 for Brain Tumour Research after completing a charity walk dedicated to her friend last month.
Rosie said: "My downward spiral has come on much quicker than I thought and it's breaking my family's heart. We need to find cures for brain tumours, because they kill so many people, and a lot of children. If they can find a cure it would be incredible, even if I won't be around to see it."
Mary's fundraiser in aid of Brain Tumour Research can be viewed and sponsored here.
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