She Was Misdiagnosed With Panic Attacks, But It Turns Out She Had An Incurable Brain Tumor
Last October, 27-year-old Jessie Mae Lambert started experiencing some bizarre episodes that doctors diagnosed as panic attacks.
“It was just really scary; I didn’t really know what was happening, and then from that point, I was having three a day, 2 a night, every day,” she explained in a TikTok video.
She was left feeling awful and exhausted after the episodes, and that prompted her to go to the doctor to get to the bottom of it.
She’s always had anxiety, so when doctors diagnosed her with panic attacks, she thought it somewhat made sense, though she felt there was more going on.
Then, one day, she was in the car with her parents, and an episode occurred. Her mom noted that this was not a panic attack at all. Her mom spent that night Googling her symptoms and acknowledged that she thought she was having seizures.
Back at the doctor’s office, Jessie’s doctor said she had to “get her story straight” and blamed her for suspecting that what was happening to her was far more nefarious than panic attacks.
On top of being misdiagnosed and then shamed for knowing something was truly wrong, Jessie then had to spend nearly every day calling to get herself seen by a neurologist at the hospital, and finally, she landed an appointment.
There was a 12-month waiting list to see this particular doctor, but luck was on Jessie’s side, and someone ended up canceling, so she was able to be seen far earlier than that.
After watching a video on TikTok, Jessie had a bad feeling she had a brain tumor, and she ended up being right about that.
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But first, she was told she had epilepsy back in April, and she was placed on medication to help with the seizures.
Then, she was informed that she had a brain tumor, which turned out to be a Grade 2 astrocytoma brain tumor, and she was given her options for how to move forward.
Jessie opted for a risky surgery, which could have caused a stroke, but thankfully, her operation was a success, and 40% of the tumor was removed. She also had to undergo radiotherapy.
Her tumor is incurable, which means she will have to have scans to monitor it for the rest of her life. Jessie decided to bravely share her story on TikTok in order to raise awareness and help other people who might also be struggling with similar diagnoses.
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