ARICHAT: More than three decades after overcoming a brain tumour, a former teacher and counsellor is hopeful she can do it once again.
In 1990, Delores Boudreau of Arichat underwent surgery for a large tumour that caused a complete loss of memory and speech, and numbness on the right side of her face, as well as in her right arm, and hand.
“The tumour was on the left, so if the tumour is on the left, it will affect something on your right, and vice versa,” she told The Reporter. “Because I was experiencing this memory business, I thought, ‘you know what, I need to get this checked out.’ Sometimes we really have to take the initiative and be an advocate for ourselves when we visit our doctor.”
Boudreau said she began experiencing symptoms last winter, 32 years after being declared tumour free.
In February, Dr. Steve Gallant in Antigonish requisitioned a CT scan which showed another meningioma growing fairly close to the spot where she underwent surgery in 1990.
“I was experiencing some memory loss that felt really foreign to me. It didn’t seem like the same kind of memory loss that other people had experienced that I spoke with,” she said. “I went to my doctor and I said, ‘this is kind of strange,’ and so he said, ‘you haven’t had a CT scan in 11-and-a-half years,’ and because I had already had a tumour in 1990, he decided, ‘let’s get you back over for a scan and we’ll rule whatever out with a scan.’ They saw it when I went to get the scan.”
Boudreau said this type of tumour grows on the sack that holds the brain, known as the meninges.
“Inside that sack, pressing on whatever part of the brain, this is where this tumour grows,” she said. “It is a specific kind of brain tumour. I’m not aware of it being overly common.”
Although surgery had proven successful the first time around, Boudreau recalled that the tumour was deemed inoperable by a Halifax neurosurgeon.
“One of the reasons was it was too close to a cerebral artery. She was not comfortable; she would have to go in there, traditionally, with a craniotomy, and I already had a craniotomy,” she stated. “She said, ‘your best bet is radiation.’”
Boudreau said she was then sent to Sydney to see a radiologist who told her she would need to do up to 30 treatments in Halifax.
After doing some research, Boudreau found Gamma Knife.
“It is one shot of radiation. It is apparently 200 beams of radiation in the tumour. So there’s no radiation that goes into your brain, or around the tumour like some of the regular radiation,” she explained. “This particular form of radiation was developed in the 60s, and it was developed for exactly the type of brain tumour I have. That was consoling to me, knowing that for all these years, this is exactly what it was been treating.”
Two weeks ago, Boudreau travelled to Toronto for the treatment which “did not take very long.”
Also a singer/songwriter, Boudreau enjoyed some of her own music while undergoing the procedure.
Two days later, Boudreau returned home and was in bed for two days. Since then, she has experienced “different” side effects.
“I’m experiencing a lot of different sensations in my head, especially on the left side. And I’m experiencing pain, especially at one of the frame sites where they actually put in two needles, so that is still sore. And I’m experiencing fatigue,” she reported. “They gave me some reading material of side effects, and I’m not experiencing any of the side effects on those sheets.”
Boudreau said the procedure takes up to six months to take effect, but according to the team in Toronto, it is known to be 90 per cent effective.
“The radiologist in Sydney wants to see me,” she said. “From Toronto, they’re telling me that on May 10, 2023, there will be a telephone appointment with my team, and three weeks prior to that, there will be another MRI, that will be the determining MRI. On May 10, I’m going to find out if that treatment worked. It takes a while.”
Because the Gamma Knife is not offered in Nova Scotia, Boudreau had to apply to the Department of Health and Wellness for assistance to travel. She noted that her family doctor was very supportive, doing a lot of writing on her behalf to get the approval.
“I have a wonderful doctor in Antigonish, and the health care system, as much as we complain about it, it’s unbelievable,” she said. “If you’re lucky, you have a family doctor who listens and does not mind requisitioning the proper tests. That is so critical.”
Boudreau is also grateful for the help of her family and friends, as well as Richmond MLA Trevor Boudreau who brought her case to the department.
“He was the one who called me on a Friday night, ‘Delores you got accepted.’ Oh my God, what a relief that was,” she recounted of her call from the MLA in September. “I made a lot of phone calls to MSI. I had to advocate for myself. At this point in my life, it would please me to advocate for somebody else because it’s not easy to navigate systems.”
Willing to discuss her experiences with anyone wondering about meningioma, out-of-province travel for treatment, or the associated anxiety of such a diagnosis, Boudreau recently paid a visit to a local woman who was diagnosed with a brain tumour.
“It was a relative of hers who witnessed her being somewhat distraught at the finding of a mass in her brain. She didn’t have a whole lot of information but she had this diagnosis. It’s so scary. It’s your head, you can’t see in there, you haven’t got a clue what’s going on in there, you don’t know how big it is, you don’t know how big it’s getting, and how much. I know, for me, it was growing fairly steadily,” she added. “They do grow slow but it’s in your head and it’s growing because MRIs show that, so you have concerns.”