Pregnancy symptoms masked brain tumor in mom of four, doctors say

At 22 weeks pregnant, Jenney Bitner became so sick on a family trip to San Diego that she could not get out of bed. Two urgent cares told the 38-year-old mother of four that her headache, nausea, vomiting and unsteady walking were just pregnancy symptoms, but after she fell twice at home, her husband took her to the emergency room.

An MRI found a "giant tumor" in Bitner’s brain. Surgery removed most of the mass, and testing showed Stage IV melanoma had spread to her brain. Doctors also found a cancerous nodule in her back large enough to be felt through her skin. The American Cancer Society puts the five-year survival rate for melanoma at about 35 percent at that stage.

Because immunotherapy was not considered safe during pregnancy, Bitner’s doctors planned an early delivery so treatment could begin. She delivered by C-section at 34 weeks, but a scan days before the operation showed the brain tumor had grown back to its full size in just weeks, forcing another brain surgery.

A systematic review indexed in PubMed found brain-tumor symptoms in pregnancy are often nonspecific and can be mistaken for routine pregnancy changes such as headache, vomiting and dizziness. Persistent or worsening headaches, repeated vomiting, trouble walking, falls, unsteady balance or other new neurological symptoms are reasons to escalate care rather than assume they are normal.

Bitner feared she might not live to see her children grow up, and she began writing them letters.