Inside Anna's Head

            Anna Swabey was your average 23 year old girl from England who enjoyed time with friends, loved her job, and really loved rugby.  I learned about her life through reading her blog "Inside My Head", which she started after she was diagnosed with a terminal Grade 3 Anaplastic Astrocytoma brain tumor.  This obviously and understandably changed almost every aspect of her life.  She started this blog after she received her diagnosis to keep family and friends up to date and raise awareness. She became a major advocate for the organization Brain Tumour Research Campaign and her campaign has raised 103,341 pounds to date.  She reached her goal of 100,000 pounds the day of her funeral.  She was diagnosed in February 2015 and passed away September 2016.  

           Anna's blog showed me a lot of things.  Reading it from her perspective and hearing about the ups and downs of it all was eye opening and I am humbled she chose to share her story with the world.  She didn't stop living her life and even met a man and was engaged, something she never thought would happen after the diagnosis.  Devastatingly her wedding date was set to be the day after she passed away.  She was my age and she did more in that short time period than many people will do in a lifetime.  Her advocacy for an increase and funding in research of brain tumors even took her all the way to Parliament. 

          

             Another thing this blog post showed me was the importance of a second opinion.  Her first doctor told her that her tumor was inoperable and that she didn't have much time left.  She saw another doctor who soon became a major part of her life and successfully completed removal of part of the tumor.  That gave Anna more time and had she not sought other options, she likely wouldn't of had that. After her surgery her life had many aspects that remained the same as they were pre-Trevor, that is the name she gave her tumor. That is something I have learned varies so much in cancer patients.  They all face the disease differently, especially with brain cancer and the risk of affecting vital parts of the brain. Reading someone's own words about the ravaging affects of cancer is much more informative than a book.  That is why I chose to look for a blog post. I would recommend reading Anna's blog post and seeing how big of an impact her life had.

Swabey, A. (2015, February 27). Anna Swabey: Inside My Head. (Web log comment). Retrieved from https://annaswabey.wordpress.com/2015/02/