“Breaking my heart”: Daughter speaks of mother’s shock brain cancer diagnosis

Mary Ingeri thought the headaches she was experiencing were due to the demands of being a mother.

Mary Ingeri pictured with her family.

When doctors told Mary Ingeri that she had a “potentially cancerous” mass in her brain, she was shocked.

Mary had been experiencing headaches for a few months but as a single mother and the primary carer for her 13-year-old son, who has severe autism, she had thought they were due to the stresses of everyday life.

Her daughter Erin said her mother would “think it was just a standard migraine because she was always overworked”.

The 50-year-old’s visit to hospital had been prompted by symptoms that had left her struggling to explain things clearly to her sons and she was having trouble with her sight.

Her speech was also slurred and she had been experiencing periods of dizziness.

Doctors ordered a CAT scan and an MRI, and after initial tests, Mary was told she had a mass in her brain that was “potentially cancerous”.

Surgery would later confirm that the tumour was an aggressive Glioblastoma – a fast growing type of brain cancer that invades and destroys healthy tissue, and is difficult to treat.

Erin, the eldest of Mary’s three children, said doctors told her mother that chemotherapy “can keep it at bay but then it eventually learns to overcome” treatment.

Mary Ingeri pictured with grandchildren Harley and Amity.

Doctors told Mary to spend as much time with family as possible.

And after undergoing surgery just before Christmas at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital, Mary is now back at home recovering.

Erin, who lives in Toowoomba with her partner and two children, recently visited her mother in Brisbane.

She said she was lethargic and was having issues with her memory and speech, most likely a side-effect of the surgery.

Erin said doctors were able to remove 95 per cent of the tumour but any more would have affected her mother’s memory and personality.

Mary, who will now undergo treatment for radiation and chemotherapy, was told by doctors that the median for survival was two years, but for some it was much less, Erin recalled.

She said her mother’s initial reaction to the diagnosis was shock.

“She was just crying and was asking why her and if it could be cured.”

Erin said she’s most worried “for my little brother, mostly because he’s only 13”.

“My other brother is going to have to be his carer if she passes so it’s a lot of responsibility.”

Asked how to describe her mother, Erin said she had “a big heart” and was her “first best friend”.

Erin, Mary’s daughter, said the thought of losing her mother was “breaking my heart”.

“She’s always been such a caring beautiful person and always worried about others before herself,” she said.

“She’s an amazing mum as well.

“My son always has a smile ear to ear when he hears he’s going to Nanna’s.”

The thought of losing her, Erin said, was “breaking my heart”.

Symptoms

AMAQ president Dr Nick Yim said it was “really important for people to touch base with their GP” if they were experiencing headaches that were not improving with over-the-counter medications.

He said headaches were common in our busy lives and were most likely caused by stress or tension.

Dr Yim urged those, especially if they were older, who previously hadn’t been experiencing headaches and “get their first”, to have a discussion with their GP.

He said that while “the majority of headaches were not serious and were often due to tensional stresses, we need to ensure we’re not missing the serious causes”.

The symptoms to be aware of, Dr Yim said, were headaches progressively worsening, neurological symptoms – slurring of speech, weakness of one side of the body, confusion, change in mood and consciousness.

To support Mary Ingeri and her family you can visit: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-our-mumma-bear