A student assumed that exam stress was the cause of her persistent headaches – but the reality turned out to be far more alarming. Now, her family is rallying together to raise funds to help “get her life back” following a devastating health diagnosis.
Annelise Donelon, known as Annie, visited her GP for months, with doctors initially putting her symptoms down to a B12 deficiency. However, further tests confirmed that the 20-year-old chemical engineering student had a cancerous brain tumour.
The growth was described as a “5cm high-grade brain tumour” located inside one of the fluid-filled cavities in her brain, with the pressure causing her head to feel “like a bandsaw was being cut down one side of her face”.
The Newcastle University student underwent surgery to remove the majority of the tumour, followed by six weeks of radiotherapy, during which she lost all her hair. Annie’s mum, Lisa Donelon, says her daughter was “very tired all of the time” and felt no improvement following the B12 injection.
Lisa, aged 49, who lives near Bury in Manchester, said: “We thought it might be hormones, migraines or stress due to her uni exam period. After the CT scan, I got the call that they had found a lesion – I can’t even describe what that feels like.”, reports Chronicle Live.
View 3 ImagesAnnelise put her cancerous brain tumour headaches down to hormones, migraines and stress(Image: Annelise Donelon | SWNS)
“Annie just wants her life back. She wants to go back to university, so we’re always looking for the next trial or treatment.
“There are just no words for what’s happening. You just feel numb, then you feel angry, then you feel sad.” Annie underwent an 11-hour craniotomy to remove the tumour at Salford Royal Hospital last October. As it was deeply embedded in her brain, she subsequently required a six-week course of radiotherapy.
Follow-up scans have so far been unable to confirm whether the tumour has been completely eradicated, according to her family. They are now exploring clinical trials and private international treatments, which they say are unavailable on the NHS, in the hope that Annie will be able to return to university.
Lisa said: “We can’t just be sitting around. We need to be doing something. Even though to look at her, you wouldn’t know there was anything wrong, we know how serious it is.”
View 3 ImagesAnnelise Donelon, pictured with her younger sisters, wants to ‘get her life back'(Image: Annelise Donelon | SWNS)
Annie has had molecular profiling carried out at a private clinic in London, visited a hospital in Paris for targeted molecular therapy, and is due to begin immunotherapy treatment in Germany. The immunotherapy treatment aims to create a vaccine specifically tailored to an individual’s cancer, though it remains in trials and is not yet accessible to British patients on the NHS.
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The family are continuing to fundraise the £100,000 they say is needed for the immunotherapy treatment. Once recovered, Annie plans to switch courses to study biochemistry, with ambitions to pursue clinical science and develop future treatments for conditions such as her own.
Dr Simon Newman, chief scientific officer at The Brain Tumour Charity, said: “People like Annie deserve access to safe, effective treatments without the burden of searching online for worldwide options. As our recent report about unlocking innovation highlighted, we urgently need more promising treatments to go through clinical trials here in the UK, so families can access rigorously tested therapies closer to home, and be part of research.”
For more information or support from the world’s largest dedicated brain tumour charity, go to The Brain Tumour Charity website here. It has details on signs and symptoms, how to live with a brain tumour, support services and the latest news on clinical research.