A Derry woman who underwent brain surgery in Candada last month is facing an anxious wait to find out if her brain tumour is likely to grow back again.
Eireann Sharkey, a 26-year-old who has been living in Ontario since 2021, underwent a craniotomy last month to allow surgeons to remove a “golf ball sized” tumour from her brain.
Eireann, who documented her experience in a YouTube video that has been watched nearly half-a-million times, admitted she was nervous speaking out but has been moved to tears by the responses from others going through a similar ordeal.
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Her tumour was successfully removed in an operation on November 15, but doctors are still trying to determine what type of tumour it was – and how likely it is to return.
Speaking to Belfast Live from her home in Ontario, Canada, she said: “They said the operation went really well, they got the whole thing removed, and they were really aggressive with the removal.
“I think it was in a good spot so they could take out more without long-term effects.
“But after the surgery they didn’t know what it was.”
Her parents are now supporting her as she awaits the results of tests on the tumour surgeons removed from her brain.
“The first one they thought it was is a pilocytic astrocytoma, which is usually only found in children. They told me ‘most people know within 10-14 days after surgery’.
“So last week, when it was two weeks after the surgery, they rang me and said ‘it wasn’t what we were hoping for, we think it’s a ganglioglioma’ – which is even rarer.
“He [her doctor] said in his 20-year career he’d only seen them a handful of times, and when I was googling it there was only a 1% chance of having that.
“So then he said ‘we’ll call you next week’ and when he called he said they are still not sure. The one they think it might be this week is a pleomorphic xanthoastrocytoma and he said in his 20=year career he seen one of those. But they aren’t sure yet.”
She continued: “He said the people running tests are struggling to figure it out. They are currently running more tests to exclude two different types. We should know in a few weeks. There might be a chance that they have to send the tumour to Boston or to England. It’s just an unusual situation.
“If it is the pleomporphic xanthoastrocytoma they think that it’s a grade two. Grade one means it’s definitely not cancerous and the chances of it growing back are slim. Grade two means it would be considered not cancerous, but there are some possibilities of it growing back and you normally need radiation afterwards.
“But he said to me that because he was so aggressive with the removal, I won’t need radiation if that’s what it is diagnosed as, but he would have to consult with other doctors about it.
“They haven’t mentioned if it’s cancerous or not in the report that was sent over.”
She added: “It’s a very nervous time and it’s a very unusually long time. Of course, I’m nervous but I’m very frateful for my support system and every single person that’s reached out to me. I’m just hoping and praying that it’s going to be the best case scenario. But that beiung said, the one that the doctor has said he is hoping for now has a survival rate of 80% for five years and even that makes me a wee bit nervous to be honest.”
In her YouTube video, recorded the day before she went in for surgery, she shared her signs and symptoms to help others look out for the warning signs.
“It’s not really a nice thing to talk about… but everybody keeps saying to me it could potentially help somebody or make somebody feel like they have a wee bit of company if you’re also going through this, so that is why I am persevering,” she said.
“At the beginning of August I had my first seizure but did not realise it was a seizure at the time.”
She said she had spotted a packet of ‘bacon fries’ crisps that can’t normally be found in Canada, but when she turned to tell those around her about the crisps the room started spinning, her mind went blank and the ‘wrong words’ came out when she spoke.
“After it, I had a wee cry and called my Ma,” she said.
The incident was put down to the summer heat, and there was no further incident for several weeks. But the seizures returned in late September and, on one occasion, they were happening “all day long”. She searched her symptoms online and, after typing her query into Google, she “couldn’t remember” what she was looking for and “couldn’t read” what was on the screen.
“That was scary,” she said.
She described how she had pressure in her head between the seizures. After seeking medical help, she was given blood tests that showed no sign of a brain tumour, but was put on a list for CT scans. A few weeks later, she had another seizure while with her boyfriend whose face went “white with fear” when he seen her struggling to speak.
Her boyfriend, Devin, took her to the hospital and – following a 12 hour wait and difficult discussions with medics – she was taken for a CT scan followed by an MRI scan and the tumour was discovered.
At the end of her video, she said: “If you’re also going through this, you’ve got this, I’ve got this, it’s going to be grand.”
Thanks to an online fundraiser, Eireann’s family were able to fly over to be with her for her operation. Her parents have been in Canada for several weeks with her and the Derry girl was keen to express her gratitude.
“I love my ma and da so much, so them being able to be here has made this process so much easier. Thank you to everyone who donated.”
The GoFundMe appeal can be found here.
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Sarah Carter is a health and wellness expert residing in the UK. With a background in healthcare, she offers evidence-based advice on fitness, nutrition, and mental well-being, promoting healthier living for readers.
