PARMA, Ohio — Jess Scheeser, a mom of two young boys, still finds the energy to workout every day, but her trips to the gym were put on hold and activities with the boys decreased after Scheeser’s doctors discovered she had a brain tumor.
“I was like, ‘that’s it. I’m a goner,’” said Scheeser.
Scheeser said she started having pain in her face and head in 2018.
“I noticed some twitching and numbness around my eye,” she said.
She said she went to the eye doctor, but everything looked normal.
“Then I started to get headaches on the right side of my head,” Scheeser said.
It was then, Scheeser said, that she decided it was time to make an appointment with her primary care physician.
“He did an ear check, and I had some fluid in my ear,” she said.
She said doctors gave her a few prescriptions, but the pain never went away. She also still felt the numbness and tingling.
Over the next three years, she said her health got much worse.
“If I would open my mouth, I would have a spasm chewing food,” Scheeser said.
She said the numbness, tingling and spasms eventually turned to a deep, scathing burn.
“I really honestly thought, making up random excuses for yourself, everything’s fine,” she said.
But her doctor recommended she see a neurologist and get an MRI of her brain. It was then that Scheeser found out she had a brain tumor.
“The first thing I thought of was, ‘OK, I’m going to die,’” Scheeser said.
She said the tumor wasn’t cancerous. Still, she said it was close to her brainstem, so her doctor recommended surgery right away.
That was five months ago. The recovery since has not been an easy one. She said she wasn’t allowed to bend, lift or squat for the around the first two months, which meant no gym and no playing with her kids.
“I couldn’t even bend down to give my kids a hug,” she said.
She credited the immense support she received from her family and friends for helping to make the recovery a little easier.
Her tumor is now gone, along with her pain. She’s also back at the gym and back to playing with her two boys.
“Just don’t give up,” said Scheeser.
