Caoimhe Jennings, a 28-year-old tax specialist from Derry, was on the trip of a lifetime in Thailand with her now-husband Ollie to mark his 30th birthday when she began “losing her marbles.” Her strange behaviour and worrying physical symptoms eventually led to a devastating diagnosis.
“I thought I was completely losing my marbles,” she told creatorzine.com. At a beach dinner, she became convinced a tsunami was about to hit because the tide seemed higher than the night before, and made Ollie return to the hotel. She also feared that one sip of an alcoholic drink had given her methanol poisoning, saying she was “properly paranoid.”
Strange symptoms and brain surgery
On a boat cruise, she could not see giant lizards along the water that were four feet long and clearly visible in photographs. After the trip, she suffered dry eyes, violent illness, double vision, swelling and unexplained bed-wetting. Initially, she put these down to stress.
After visiting her local optician, she was sent to A&E for tests. “The doctor’s face dropped as I told them what was going on. I truly thought it would be nothing,” she said. Within an hour she was in surgery for hydrocephalus, having a drain placed in her brain to remove excess fluid. The next morning, she was told she had a large brain tumour at the centre of her brain.
Marriage and months to live
Because surgery to remove the tumour carried a risk of death, Ollie proposed to make the most of her prognosis of months, not years. The couple married in January. “I’m trying to stay positive about it all now. I’m in no pain compared to what I was like this time last year,” she said.
“I weirdly see myself as very lucky compared to other people in these situations. I have an amazing husband, a supportive family that isn’t giving up on me and great in-laws who would do absolutely anything for me.” She added: “I know I’m going to die young, but I’m not accepting the months they’ve given me – I’m praying for years. I’m making the most of every day and I've recently started baking. I’m either getting good at it or no one wants to upset the girl with cancer.”
