Nursing Student Makes Devastating Discovery After Struggling To Read Text Messages
When you’re a student in college, there is an incredible number of stressors that you face every day. Along with societal and educational pressure, college is often a time when you discover who you really are.
All of that, plus being on your own for the first time, means that students face a lot of stress. Effects can manifest in many different ways, from psychological distress to physical breakdowns.
But for one student, stress was the least of her worries. She began to realize something was wrong when she had a difficult time reading text messages — something that had never been an issue before.
Charlotte Taylor, a 19-year-old nursing student from Birmingham, went to doctors to try to identify the issue.
“We first noticed something was wrong when she was unable to read her text messages very clearly – we took her to a doctor, but the doctor didn’t find a problem,” her dad, John Taylor, said.
“We took it upon ourselves to take Charlotte to the opticians where they noticed her optic nerves were swollen, which usually means there is pressure inside the head at the back of the eyes.”
After scans and tests, Charlotte was diagnosed with a grade 4 glioblastoma brain tumor, one of the most aggressive kinds of cancer.
Unfortunately, the tumor is inoperable. John said that “all we have got is chemotherapy and radiotherapy.”
“She began chemotherapy on March 2 and radiotherapy a few days later — both for a three-week course,” he continued, but the treatments had adverse side effects.
“Unfortunately, it had to be stopped after one week because her biopsy wound was weeping,” said John, “and the doctors had to clean up the infection and administer a seven-day course of antibiotics without chemotherapy and radiotherapy.”
The family is still optimistic that a better option will surface or that their current efforts will yield results, but, in the meantime, Charlotte is struggling with memory loss and limited mobility on her right side.
“If Charlotte responds well to the initial treatment, we believe that her second course of chemotherapy will begin in May.”
Because this form of cancer is so rare, there aren’t many specialized plans of treatment available. The only viable option seems to be a costly treatment through Hallwang Clinic, which is located in Germany.
Friends, family, and neighbors have stepped up to help out financially. Charlotte’s fiancé Adrian also shaved his head to support her and raise money for the cause.
Fundraising efforts were spearheaded by neighbor Kate Cotterill, who wanted the family to be able to cherish their time together and get to Germany without having to also worry about the incredible monetary strain.
So far, she has raised over $45,000 to help the family persevere. She is hoping to triple that.
“We are looking for treatment everywhere,” admitted John, “whether it’s in Germany or the U.S., we have copies of all her radiotherapy results and we can send them to hospitals all over the world.”
With the love and support of family and kindhearted strangers, hopefully Charlotte can get into a program that will be able to set her back on her feet and allow her to pursue her own dream to help others.
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