The Review

Issue date: 5/6/08 Section: Mosaic

Jackie Pilla was diagnosed with brain cancer on Nov. 16, 2006.

For the majority of individuals, Nov. 16, 2006, was just another day on the calendar. For Jackie Pilla, it changed her life - it was the day she found out she had a brain tumor.

Pilla is a 1995 university alumna who was named Miss Delaware U.S.A. in 1999. Throughout her years as a student and as Miss Delaware U.S.A., she was experiencing the symptoms of her brain tumor.

Pilla says the most difficult symptom for her to deal with was depression. She was diagnosed with depression and had been in treatment for for several years. She underwent psychotherapy and medication, but nothing was effective.

Four years ago, Pilla's problems with her memory and balance began. She would run into walls and then laugh it off.

"I would just joke and say I'm clumsy because that's what I thought," Pilla says.

It became increasingly frustrating for Pilla once she saw herself changing as a person.

"I used to be very sharp, quick, on-the-ball, and I wasn't like that anymore," she says.

This point was especially difficult because she felt as though she was the only one who was aware of the change. She says people around her didn't notice her symptoms because she could still function well.

"They would say, 'Look at how well you're doing, look at how successful you are, it can't be that big of a deal,' " Pilla says.

Yet she noticed the change, and her symptoms continued to worsen. Pilla says her migraine headaches, which she had experienced for approximately six to eight years, grew longer and more intense. Her doctor ordered that she have an MRI, through which he discovered she had a type of brain tumor called meningioma.

Pilla first heard the news when driving home from work. She talked to a physician's assistant who would only say she had enlarged brain tissue.

"After that I had a half hour drive home," she says. "I was thinking a million different things."

Pilla says she was in a state of disbelief for a few months.

"I think I was in shock," she says.

On Nov. 26, 2007, she underwent a craniotomy to remove the tumor. She had met with her surgeon previously.

"He said it looked atypical," Pilla says. "They wanted to remove it to make sure."

The surgery was a success and the tumor was removed. She returned to work as a school counselor three weeks later.

Continued...

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