Branden Newman had been suffering from migraines since he was just 13 years old.
Normally, he would take an over-the-counter painkiller and the pain in his head would disappear within 24 hours.
In late April, a man from Texas endured a severe migraine lasting six days, leaving him unable to eat and causing constant dizziness, nausea, and sensitivity to light.
When the 38-year-old sought medical help, doctors at the emergency room discovered through scans a significant ‘mass’ encircling one of his crucial blood vessels in his head.
He was diagnosed with glioblastoma, a highly aggressive and lethal form of brain cancer, where the survival rate is typically no longer than 18 months for most patients.
Revealing his symptoms to TODAY, he said: ‘I had a headache for six days straight. I wasn’t eating. I was sleeping a lot and just not myself. I was just out of it.’
Just six days after the diagnosis, he was rushed through for major surgery where doctors cut out part of his skull to remove 90 percent of the tumor.
But during the surgery, one of his major blood vessels spasmed, causing a stroke and now leaving him struggling to move anything on the left side of his body.
Branden Newman is pictured above with his wife Joanna. He was diagnosed with glioblastoma in May this year
Glioblastomas can be diagnosed at any age and are particularly difficult to treat because the tumors can grow tentacles deep into the brain.
About 12,000 people are diagnosed with the disease every year, and only five percent of them survive longer than five years, estimates suggest.
Cases are rising, experts say, including a slight uptick among those under 40 years old, but physicians are stumped as to the cause.
Newman went to his primary care doctor, and then the emergency room after his wife Joanna, who works in a physician’s office, recommended that he got checked.
‘Branden had a migraine for six days,’ she told local news station KCENTV.
‘He’s always had migraines, but this one was different because it lasted so long and he was nauseous and the light really bothered him.’
Revealing the moment she found out the diagnosis, she said: ‘My boss came and got me out of the [operating room] and told me that they found a mass on Branden and I lost it.’
He was diagnosed with a ‘mass’ on May 2, and underwent a craniotomy to remove it on May 8, a surgery where doctors cut open the skull to access the brain.
To treat the cancer, doctors opened his skull and removed 90 percent of the tumor from his brain. The above photo is from after the surgery
He has endured radiation for six weeks followed by weekly chemotherapy for six months to eliminate the tumor cells, and is now undergoing daily chemotherapy.
Newman is also taking perampanel, an anti-seizure medication that can have anti-tumor effects, and gabapentin, also an anti-seizure drug that has been linked to improved survival among people with the disease.
Doctors said that during the surgery, they tried to remove the tumor from around his middle cerebral artery, one of the three major arteries that supply blood to the brain.
But during the procedure, the blood vessel spasmed, causing a stroke and damage to the brain tissue.
He was initially unable to move his left side after waking up from surgery but has now recovered enough movement to walk again. He is still having trouble with his left arm.
Newman revealed his diagnosis amid Glioblastoma Awareness Day on July 16, which aims to make more people aware of the disease.
Warning signs of the disease include a persistent headache, vomiting, loss of appetite, double vision and changes in mood and personality.
Doctors say the overwhelming majority of headaches do not represent tumors, but those who are concerned should speak to their primary care providers.
The pair, from Texas, are childhood sweethearts having met in 2000 when Branden was 13 years old and she was just 11 years old
Newman and his wife were childhood sweethearts, having met when he was 13 and she was just 11 years old while on a camping trip. The pair dated in high school and married in 2007.
But shortly after the wedding, the pair faced a crisis when Newman’s wife was unexpectedly diagnosed with a non-cancerous spinal cord tumor that left her struggling to walk.
Newman stuck by her and supported her through the surgery and the recovery.
His wife said: ‘Branden stuck by me through all of that, even at such a young age and facing life with potentially having your wife in a wheelchair.
‘He took great care of me all the way through. I am so grateful. He’s such a good man.’
She is now looking after Newman and helping to support him while he battles his diagnosis.
The pair has also launched a fundraiser to help cover hospital and emergency bills triggered by battling the disease. It has already raised $140,000 out of its $35,000 goal.
