Mum's terminal brain tumor symptoms dismissed as postpartum anxiety | SWNS

A mum has told how her terminal brain tumour symptoms were dismissed as postpartum anxiety.

Kelsey Stokstad, 31, got pins and needles in her arm while cleaning windows and went to hospital but turned down a CT scan because she couldn't afford it.

Doctors put her symptoms down to postpartum anxiety but when the tingles spread to her leg and ended in a seizure, she had tests.

The content creator was diagnosed with a grade three astrocytoma tumour in her brain and given two-to-five years to live.

But after 33 rounds of radiotherapy and 12 rounds of chemotherapy she was handed a lifeline when she qualified to trial a new drug.

Vorasidenib, or Voranigo, specifically treats brain and spinal cancer, and is set to make her condition manageable.

Kelsey, from Madison, Wisconsin, said: “Knowing I had brain cancer was another wave of emotions.

“To see how it affected my family was the hardest for me.

“I went down some really deep, dark rabbit holes - I couldn’t imagine what it would be like to lose a wife, and a mum.

"I’m so grateful for modern medicine - it’s given us an incredible sense of hope.

“I’ve been given access to this trial drug - FDA-approved.

“My oncologist says it’ll turn my terminal disease into a manageable, chronic illness which I can live a long life with.

Kelsey had just put her daughter, Raeya, now two, down for a nap when she experienced her first episode.

Her husband, business consultant Sean, 31, was gardening while she was cleaning windows indoors.

Without warning, her left arm started tingling, before going completely numb.

“The closest thing I can compare it to is when you fall asleep on your arm,” she said.

“It’s like, you can’t control it and you can’t move it.

“I panicked, thinking it was a stroke.”

Sean ran in, asking Kelsey if she wanted him to call 911.

They were rushed to hospital via ambulance - just 15 minutes later.

“I was in a fully-fledged panic attack, at this point,” Kelsey added.

“It was a really hazy time.

“By the time we got to the emergency room, they did an EKG test to look for a heart attack or stroke.

“But, all my blood work was totally normal.

“We were offered a CT scan, but it was going to be very expensive, even with insurance.”

Kelsey returned home - and a week later, her GP diagnosed her with postpartum anxiety.

She was prescribed beta blockers, to take whenever she had another “tingly episode.”

“I had another four episodes after that - and the medication didn’t even touch the sides,” she said.

“They’d happen every two-to-three weeks, leading up to my ‘big one’ in August.”

On August 16, 2023, began to feel the numbing sensation again.

She added: “It was different, this time.

“I could feel the sensation going down my left leg - Sean told me to lay on the floor.

“Thank goodness he did, because I had a grand-mal seizure while he was on the phone to me.”

Kelsey’s tonic-clonic seizure - which causes violent muscle contractions and a loss of consciousness - lasted about five minutes.

She woke up with no knowledge of what had just happened - and Sean drove her back to the ER.

A CT scan was performed on Kelsey’s brain, which showed a 4cm mass on her parietal lobe.

She was immediately admitted to the hospital - and had emergency surgery to remove the lump on August 17, 2023.

Within three weeks, her surgeon called her up to confirm she had grade three brain cancer, and had just 12-15 years to live.

Geneticists tested Kelsey’s tumour for the IDH1 mutation - a gene change which can cause abnormal cells to grow in the body - in September 2023.

It came back positive, which meant she could join a drug trial approved by the FDA.

Her oncologist has said if the trial is successful, it could turn Kelsey’s terminal diagnosis into a chronic one - meaning her life won’t be cut short.

“We went out to celebrate, when we heard the news,” she said.

“You’ve got to celebrate all the small wins.

“Most oncology meetings aren’t sugarcoated - cancer is horrible, and generally doctors are giving you bad news.

“But when my doctor walked in the room, smiling, and using words like ‘hopeful?’

“That was incredible.”

Kelsey hasn't got a set date yet for her drug trial - but has been told it will be a viable option for her "later down the road."

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