A woman’s selfie on vacation in New York City may have saved her life.
While going through her vacation photos, Megan Troutwine, now 33, noticed one of her eyes drooping in a photo taken by a fountain not far from Times Square.
She suddenly became concerned that the physical change might be related to her recent bout of cognitive problems and difficulty exercising.
She raised her concerns with her doctor and was referred to see a neurologist for an MRI, which confirmed that something was indeed wrong – she had a large tumor in her brain.
While undergoing 30 rounds of radiation and two surgeries to remove the non-cancerous mass, doctors found another, more dangerous tumor called a glioma, which can be difficult to treat and can lead to brain damage.
In this selfie, Megan Troutwine’s eye drooped a bit, something she thought was odd, but nothing to worry about. But 15 minutes after undergoing an MRI, the doctor confirmed she had a benign tumor pressing against her brain
Her treatment journey began in 2016, and while she still goes to Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa for regular checkups, she is healthy.
She also went from being a patient to an employee at Moffitt, comforting patients in the same position as herself.
On her trip to New York, Ms Troutwine did what any tourist would do – took selfies in front of famous landmarks like Times Square and the Freedom Tower. But she looked puzzled at one of the pictures.
She said: ‘I’m like, “oh, that’s weird. That picture looks weird.” Little did I know.’
In 2016, doctors identified a meningioma in Ms Troutwine’s brain just 15 minutes after she underwent an MRI. Doctors knew it was benign, although they considered it too aggressive, meaning it may have grown or invaded nearby brain tissue.
Meningioma is one of the most common types of brain tumors, accounting for 30 percent of all of them. They originate from the meninges, the outer three layers of tissue that protect the brain under the skull.
Ms. Troutwine has long been an avid runner, but her many rounds of radiation and necessary recovery forced her to slow down
Symptoms of meningioma creep in slowly and may include changes in vision such as double or blurred vision, headaches that are worse in the morning, hearing loss or ringing in the ears, memory loss, loss of smell, seizures, weakness in the arms or legs, and difficulty speaking.
The experience caused her to have cognitive problems, which she considered the most disturbing. Even as a long-time runner, she has had to slow down a bit.
Trout wine said: ‘Dealing with the cognitive issues and dealing with memory loss and stuff, that was probably the hardest thing, because I know I’m smarter than that.
‘I’m more capable than that. I can do more. But it’s also learning to give myself the grace in between.’
Throughout treatment, her doctor, Moffitt Cancer Center neuro-oncologist Dr. Sepideh Mokhtari another primary brain tumor.
Back then, it was a glioma, which has a survival rate of about seven years when diagnosed early in young people.
Dr. Mokhtari said: ‘It was very small. And as we follow it over the years, we see a slight increase in size over time.’
But Ms Troutwine considers herself lucky as she knows full well how dangerous gliomas can be and has lost friends to the brain condition.
She said: ‘A low-grade glioma is like a blessed juxtaposition, you might say, because it’s like you’re on a cliff and you know what’s going to happen.
‘You know it will develop. You will have to process it. You know it could very well be what could jeopardize your mortality in the future. But you know, at the same time, you’re kind of waiting for it to do something.’