A brave young mum has spoken about the devastating diagnosis that has turned her world upside down. Reagan Kirkpatrick is facing a race against time after being told she has a Grade 4 diffuse midline glioma brain tumour.
Reagan, 22, is now determined to make as many memories as she can with her daughter, two-year-old Amara Bel. Six months ago Regan started getting severe headaches and felt tired a lot, so she went to see her GP.
Doctors told her it was due to stress and gave her some tablets. But as time went on her headaches continued to get worse to the point where she unable to go to work.
She had some blood tests done but the results failed to reveal anything. This is when Reagan decided to book an appointment with the opticians instead.
Speaking to Chronicle Live, Reagan said: "The optician did some tests and found that there was something behind my eye and gave me a letter, which she said I needed to take to the doctors [straight away]. The next day, I was still getting really bad headaches so I went to Cramlington Hospital and that's when they did an MRI scan and told me I had a tumour."
Days later she had an operation to relieve some of the pressure that was causing her headaches. She has since had six weeks of radiotheraphy and is now on her fourth round of chemotheraphy.
Although doctors have told Reagan that the tumour is shrinking, they said it was incurable, and there is no way of knowing how long she has left.
"Doctors can't tell me how long I had the tumour before it was diagnosed or if it could have been prevented. I am just taking each day as it comes [but] it is so hard.
"I don't go out that much because it is taking its toll on me now and I can hardly go up the stairs. My balance is really bad and I need a wheelchair if I go to the shop," Reagan said.
Reagan is now on a mission to make as many memories as she can with her beautiful little girl and is hoping to take her to Disneyland Paris in 2023. Reagan's colleagues at Domestic and General, where she worked as customer sales advisor, have launched a fundraising campaign called ‘Raise 4 Reagan' to help pay for her final wishes.
A Go Fund Me page has been set up by work friend Liam Vinsome as part of the campaign and has so far raised more than £3,000.
Reagan said: "I want to take my daughter to Flamingo Land and, hopefully, to Disneyland Paris. I am so thankful to Liam and my work colleagues who have set up the fundraiser."
And the couragous mum had an important message for anyone struggling to get a diagnosis. She said: "If you think something is wrong, definitely get a second opinion."
To donate to the appeal visit: https://gofund.me/0d75630a
