Jaclyn Zacharias

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For several months I have been experiencing consistent and daily headaches along with extreme fatigue and generally low energy levels. I finally went to the doctor because something just felt wrong and had a CT scan & MRI ordered last week (1/12/17). That's when I found out I have a meningioma brain tumor a little larger than the size of a clementine on the frontal lobe of the right side of my brain. The good news is that this type of tumor is very rarely cancer (typically 1-2% chance). Since last week, everything has been moving very quickly. I met with a brain surgeon at Abbott Northwestern on Monday, 1/16 and am now scheduled to have brain surgery on Tuesday, 1/24/17 at 11:00am.


The surgery is expected to be longer than usual and last several hours due to location of tumor being close to my processing centers so extra caution will need to be exercised. The goal is to remove the entire tumor but again, based on its location, there is a decent chance some may need to remain to protect the safety of my speech & cognitive abilities, along with my personality. If some of the tumor remains I will likely be facing radiation afterwards. The first night after surgery will be spent in the ICU to monitor for seizures and then I will be moved to the main hospital on a neuro floor for probably 2-4 nights. There are currently a lot of unknowns in terms of what exactly the surgeon will find when he goes in for surgery and how the recovery process will go for me so Steve and I will be taking this one day at a time to learn next steps.


Unfortunately in January 2022, I learned my tumor recurred along with another new tumor. On February 15th, I had my 2nd brain surgery. Once again, a full resection was not possible and additional treatment after was needed. I opted to join a clinical trial at Mayo using Lutathera (an IV administered radiation) instead of traditional radiation again. This surgery also resulted in facial paralysis of my right side.