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EXCLUSIVE I was given six months to live after my brain tumor was found...it's a 'miracle' I'm alive a decade later
EXCLUSIVE I was given six months to live after my brain tumor was found...it's a 'miracle' I'm alive a decade later

Daily Mail​

time2 hours ago

  • Health
  • Daily Mail​

EXCLUSIVE I was given six months to live after my brain tumor was found...it's a 'miracle' I'm alive a decade later

Los Angeles-based filmmaker Grace Wethor was 13 when she learned of the massive tumor pressing on her brain. She was given six months to live. But a decade later she is living a full and vibrant life - defying the odds in what doctors call a 'miracle' case. In 2015, she began experiencing headaches and seizures, prompting her to go to the hospital. Doctors found a tumor in her brainstem, called a glioma, a typically fatal cancer with minimal treatment options that are often unsuccessful. Doctors said she had about six months to live until the cancer, which has a survival rate of about eight percent, killed her. Wethor said: 'Because my tumor is so difficult to treat, I was able to leave the hospital and spend my "last six months" doing what I love. 'During those first six months, when I thought they might be my last, I made it a mission to do something creative every single day.' She painted, taught herself how to play guitar, and made fashion a form of self-expression. She visited museums with her mother, which she said 'was crucial to keeping my mind off my diagnosis and current health circumstances.' While she never received treatment, her symptoms – headaches, fatigue, and seizures – became manageable with a healthy balance of mindfulness and physical health. 'It's not always perfect, but I've found ways to work with my body rather than against it,' she said. 'Most days, I'm able to live a full and relatively normal life…I don't assume I have time.' Now, an advocate for cancer research, Wethor undergoes MRI scans, fearing all the time that the cancer has grown. But she hasn't let that fear take over her life. A glioma of the brain stem is a tumor that develops in the area connecting the brain to the spinal cord and can come in different varieties based on the specific type of glial cell. The brainstem is crucial in controlling vital functions such as breathing, heart rate, swallowing, and movement. Damage to it can lead to a wide range of devastating effects that Wethor fears are lurking just around the corner, including difficulty breathing, difficulty swallowing, and cognitive decline. Brainstem gliomas are rare and more common in children than adults. Every year, there are roughly 300 cases in adults and 500 cases in children. It is the same cancer President Joe Biden's son Beau had. He was diagnosed in 2013 and died two years later. 'My doctors can't explain why I have survived,' she said. 'I still have my tumor, but miraculously, it has not grown.' There is no treatment for this form of cancer, leaving her wondering when her regular MRI scan will show that the tumor has grown and pressure on her brain has worsened. Doctors do not know what prompted the tumor to develop, how it might respond to treatment, what the best available treatments are, or whether it will come back if a patient reaches remission. Wethor's expectation-exceeding survival is nothing short of miraculous, given the tiny chance of survival given to her as a teen. She said: 'Because of the complexity of the brain stem, doctors aren't able to biopsy or do surgery on these tumors. 'This means that as soon as these tumors start growing, there isn't much that can be done to help the patient - especially because chemotherapy and radiation also have a slim chance of working.' Radiation's effect is often short-lived, chemotherapy often fails and there are no targeted therapies. When symptoms appear, such as double vision, slurred speech, and imbalance, the cancer has spread beyond help. 'The hope is that one day a trial or new treatment will emerge that can help tumors in this area of the brain,' she said. 'There have been some advancements but we still have a long way to go.' From the outside, she said, nobody would know she has a brain tumor. And while she still gets headaches and other symptoms, she has been able to find creative outlets. The cancer could worsen at any moment, but Wethor doesn't fear death. Social workers would ask her if she was afraid of dying, but she realized it was the wrong question. 'Really what I should have been asked was if I was afraid of living – living with this reality and wondering how long I and others could live under that stress and unknown,' she said. 'I try to live every day as an adventure, because no one is guaranteed any amount of time, brain tumor or no brain tumor, and this experience has made that impossible to ignore.'

Who was Jennifer Abbott, film director 'murdered in her London home for her Rolex'?
Who was Jennifer Abbott, film director 'murdered in her London home for her Rolex'?

The National

timea day ago

  • Entertainment
  • The National

Who was Jennifer Abbott, film director 'murdered in her London home for her Rolex'?

Filmmaker Jennifer Abbott was found dead in her London flat, with police saying she might have been killed for her diamond-encrusted Rolex watch. A woman, 66, was arrested on Wednesday on suspicion of murder. Abbott, 69, was discovered in her flat with tape over her mouth when a neighbour helped her concerned niece break down the door on June 13. She was last seen alive walking her pet corgi in Camden, north London, on June 10. London has been hit in recent years by a 'Rolex ripper' crime wave, in which highly organised criminal groups operate in the city to snatch luxury watches from victims, often from their wrists but also from their homes. According to her neighbours, Abbott was well-liked, having lived in the area for several years after moving from Los Angeles. Abbott shared many photos of herself with entertainers including actress Kate Hudson, musician George Benson and comedian Dane Cook on her Facebook page. 'She used to live in Beverly Hills,' a neighbour told MailOnline, adding that she moved to London after she 'lost everything'. Another told Metro: 'She was a lovely lady, always so well turned out and lovely to speak to. She was a real character.' The author and filmmaker, also known as Sarah Steinberg, was born in London in 1967, the daughter of an ambassador, and graduated from the University of Westminster, according to her official biography on IMDb. What did Jennifer Abbott direct? Most notably, Abbott directed a feature-length film titled War of the Gods, which won the best documentary prize at the 2009 Swansea Film Festival, which ran from 2006 to 2011 in Wales. The festival boasted Catherine Zeta Jones and Michael Sheen among its high-profile supporters and helped to launch the career of Welsh filmmaker Gareth Evans (The Raid, Gangs of London), whose debut feature Footsteps won the top prize at the inaugural event. According to a brochure clipping from a Norwegian film festival posted on Abbott's Facebook account, the film 'explains how political leaders misuse religion to declare war and violence'. The film used archive footage of political figures including Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, former Israeli prime minister David Ben-Gurion, former US president George W Bush and former UK prime minister Tony Blair, along with interviews. In a speech at a screening in London, Abbott said production was arduous: 'I was arrested, thrown in jail for three days, and the film was confiscated [by Beverly Hills police] for six months, until Bush came out of power.' In 2004, Abbott directed the 10-minute short horror film Temple of Fear, set in Arizona and based on her supernatural horror novel The Other Dimension. According to IMDb and her LinkedIn profile, Abbott tried to adapt the short into a feature-length film starring Christopher Walken, Jason Alexander and Jon Lovitz, but the project did not come to fruition. Her company, Orchid Production, was behind a number of other projects. Literary career In addition to The Other Dimension, She also wrote horror short stories. In 2002, she published a poetry collection called Poems From the Deepest Corner of the Soul. Before that, she wrote a horror novel, The Scream from Within, published in 1995 and 'based on a true story'. 'Married at 11, beaten by her husband and disowned by her family, Sarah was victimised until her soul was devoured with pain. Haunted by a mysterious past, she fled until she was forced to confront her fears. She fought a battle that no one could win in the corrupt society where she thought she belonged. But finally, she freed herself, bought a one-way ticket to the free world and swore never to return,' reads The Scream From Within 's official description. An Amazon reviewer called the book 'Intense, adventurous and utterly emotional experience.' Used copies of the book are currently available.

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