Anna's Story
(as told by 3 of her friends)
(as told by 3 of her friends)
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| Anna February 15, 2004 (Before Feb 19, 2004 Gamma knife procedure & March 8, 2004 seizure) |
To Our Friend Anna -
We just don't know how
else to help.
We can't make it go
away.................
We just don't know how
else to help.
We can't make it go
away.................
May 3, 2003 - While bending over at home; Anna feels like she was hit in the back of her head with a baseball
bat. She is aware enough to call 9-1-1. Anna is admitted to the hospital where she is kept in a somewhat
subdued drug induced coma state while the medical staff tries to determine what is causing the pain in her
head.
All tests have shown that the pain is being caused by a large amount of intercranial blood from an unknown
source.
The immediate reaction from the medical staff is that she has suffered an aneurysm and the first couple of
days would tell whether she could pull through. The other potential condition considered was AVM a condition
one is born with and surfaces later in life.
By process of elimination; it was determined that Anna had suffered a stroke - cause unknown
July 12, 2003 - Excerpt from an email I received from Anna.................
I can drive again! My doctor told me this week I can start driving (just not long distances) and also I can try
going back to work full time! I feel like an adult again! Of course I went to work this week and worked 10 hour
days and over did it and exhausted myself so I took most of Friday off. But there is so much to do after being
off for 2 months! But it feels good to be back in the real world again. In 6 weeks I go back to neurologist and
she will do a ct scan to see how the blood is on my brain and compare it to the on she took in June. My
vision is great now (good thing since I'm driving!) and the headaches are a lot better. I'm still on a lot of the
meds, but not on all of them. They still don't know why I had the stroke, but seem to be satisfied with all the
results of the many tests I've had which have shown no cause for the stroke and show that I'm very healthy
otherwise.
August - November 2003 - Anna begins to have headaches which get progressively worse forcing her to
take vicodin to make it thru a day.
November 2003 - Anna's neurologist orders an MRI with contrast to find out what's going on - it shows that
she has a tumor - she pulls all her medical records since she went 6 months with an incorrect diagnosis
The Turning Point..........
- going forward with new and very highly acclaimed Doctors
December 2003 - Thru the help of some friends Anna finds a highly reputable Neurosurgeon in the Chicago
area and also moves her medical records to a new Neurologist
December 10, 2003 - Anna undergoes surgery named 'craniotomy' to remove her non-cancerous benign
tumor. Just after surgery, her family receives the news that the tumor is most likely a malignant tumor and
therefore a form of cancer. Not all of the tumor could be removed surgically without risk to Anna's life.
December 15, 2003 - Anna is released from the hospital; 5 days after craniotomy surgery
December 22, 2003 - Anna receives radiation treatment 5 days a week for 6 weeks until February 3, 2004 -
this is done in advance of receiving pathology reports.
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| Anna August 30, 2004 (After 5th round of chemo) |
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Brain Cancer Patient, Wife & Mother
Anna Taylor 45-year-old; wife of Scott Taylor; mother of Danielle 22 and Jenn 18; step-mom of Ashley 1
9, Alicia 16 and Tommy 11, is in the midst of the FIGHT for her life. She has been diagnosed with an
extremely uncommon form of Brain Cancer named Gliosarcoma.
We (3 of her friends) struggled with how to help. This website is intended to keep all of Anna's family,
friends and loved ones of others fighting the same cancer, informed as she moves through her FIGHT.
Anna Taylor 45-year-old; wife of Scott Taylor; mother of Danielle 22 and Jenn 18; step-mom of Ashley 1
9, Alicia 16 and Tommy 11, is in the midst of the FIGHT for her life. She has been diagnosed with an
extremely uncommon form of Brain Cancer named Gliosarcoma.
We (3 of her friends) struggled with how to help. This website is intended to keep all of Anna's family,
friends and loved ones of others fighting the same cancer, informed as she moves through her FIGHT.