brainstrust

A MUM-OF-FOUR with a massive brain tumour is daring to hope, after learning she has the chance to undergo life-saving surgery in the United States. Tania Foster, of Quarles Park Road, Chadwell Heath, faced a death sentence when she was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumour a quarter of the size of her brain.

The 35-year-old's nightmare began in late 2006, when she began suffering severe headaches, hot and cold flushes, fatigue and blurred vision. One evening, after a family dinner, she had a fit.

Miss Foster, now confined to a wheelchair, explains: "The only thing I remember doing was picking up a pint of barley juice. My kids and my partner have told me I started talking gibberish, threw the pint of barley juice over everyone, fell to the floor and had a full-on grand mal seizure. I was bleeding from the mouth and I turned blue."

The memory brings tears to her eyes, but the future began to look brighter when a friend found an article about a pioneering surgeon in Boston. Professor Peter Black, a neurosurgeon-in-chief, and his team are the only ones in the world with the expertise and equipment to tackle such a tumour.

He believes he can operate, but the cost of the procedure is £55,000, and a mammoth fundraising effort has begun. Miss Foster said: "The thought of someone going into my brain really frightens me, but ... I want to see my grandkids."

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