When Rita Maunsell learned she had been living with a brain tumour for nearly l5 years, she christened it Terence. "On the day I was diagnosed, I had no headache," she recalls. "We decided that Terence must have been afraid of the doctor." Brain tumour symptoms vary from person to person. Rita experienced severe headaches over a long period of time, but put it down to migraine and learned to live with the pain. However, in February 1995, she got a tingling sensation in her face and arm. Being a nurse, Rita knew there was something wrong. She was quickly diagnosed with a large brain tumour. "It was a shock but there was a great sense of relief that I had not been imagining the pain," she says.
At that stage, Rita and her husband John had two girls, Laura (9) and Rachel (6). Before surgery, she had a pregnancy test as a precaution but it was negative. Surgery went well but when she returned home, she began to experience symptoms of a different kind. A second pregnancy test confirmed her suspicions. She was pregnant and had been in the very early stages during surgery.
"It was a very stressful pregnancy, thinking about the effect of the surgery and the medication on the baby. The scans looked okay but you never know," she recalls.
On November 15th, 1995, Kerrie Maunsell was born. "She was as perfect as could be. It was such a relief."
After the birth, Rita heard about the Brain Tumour Support Group and attended its meetings at St Luke's Hospital, Dublin. The group is made up of brain tumour patients, family and friends, and professionals such as radiographers, social workers and nurses from Beaumont and St Luke's Hospital. They attend voluntarily to answer patients' questions and address certain topics.
Rita says that it is very rare for such a support group to have access to so many professionals on a voluntary basis.
"The group is a tremendous support," Rita says. "I really look forward to the meeting once a month. There is a fascinating mix of people there, from the very young to the middle-aged. It's a great support for families as well because they have so many questions."
The tumour changed Rita's life in a way she would never have imagined. When she was diagnosed, she took a career break from her job as a public health nurse. Last December, she set up Orchard Cabs, a cab company in Rathfarnham. "The opportunity arose and I said why not? I would never have done this if I hadn't got the brain tumour because I wouldn't have had time to think about it. When you have a brush with something so serious, you would try anything."
Feeling fit and healthy now, Rita says that the experience sometimes feels like a dream. "Occasionally, I have flashbacks and I ask myself, did it really happen, was it really me?
"Life goes on, you forget, and then something reminds you. That's human nature. But it stays with you forever."