Today, Galloway lives with 13 tumors throughout her body – six in her spine, three on her hand, two in her neck, and two in her brain.
She has undergone four brain surgeries – one which left her completely deaf after a life-saving brain surgery – and experimental treatments.
Now a content creator, speaker, and advocate for NF2 patients, Galloway, from North Carolina, continues raising awareness and inspiring families.
“When I was 16, I played volleyball and I was a setter,” Galloway said. “I went for a dive and hit my head on the ground. So I went in for a routine MRI.”
Galloway’s journey with NF2 began at 16 with a shocking diagnosis that would reshape her entire life.
“You have two brain tumors. You’re going to go deaf by the time you graduate high school,” doctors told Galloway after what should have been a routine concussion check.
The rare genetic disorder means she’s missing a signal in her DNA that tells nerves to stop growing, causing tumors to grow outward, press on vital structures, or inward, shutting the nerve down.
The doctors told her they were slow growing — six months later after a follow-up appointment, they grew by 100%.
She was immediately put on Avastin, a repurposed breast cancer drug.
At 21, she entered a phase one experimental trial, out of rats into humans, where researchers kept increasing doses until she had adverse reactions.
Four brain surgeries followed, with her losing hearing in her right ear and gradually losing hearing in her left ear over ten years.
Her father, Mark, a successful business owner, couldn’t cope with his daughter’s diagnosis.
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