My name is Jude, I’m 62 years old, and I was healthy prior to the changes that took place due to my pheo (adrenaline gland tumor) that attacked my body from head to toe in June of 2024. Prior to that day, I led a very happy life with a great job and activities/travel with my husband, kids, grandkids & friends.
That fateful morning, I was getting ready to leave for work. I was tired from flying home after a wonderful family reunion the day before and blamed that exhaustion on the time change. Within a few minutes I started getting a severe headache, feeling nauseous, having hot flashes that made me feel like I was melting, and lastly, vision loss in both eyes (like someone had a flashlight on the brightest setting).
I asked my husband to call 911 as I am in healthcare and thought I was possibly having a heart attack. He did and the last thing I remember is our EMT/Paramedic neighbors on the mountain being there to immediately assess my symptoms. I said “I love you and I will see you at the hospital” to my husband and that was it…until I woke up 5 weeks later in a panic. I didn’t know where I was and I also wasn’t able to move, speak, or see well. I heard so much noise and people talking, but was still in a great deal of pain.
My name is Jude, I’m 62 years old, and I was healthy prior to the changes that took place due to my pheo (adrenaline gland tumor) that attacked my body from head to toe in June of 2024. Prior to that day, I led a very happy life with a great job and activities/travel with my husband, kids, grandkids & friends.
That fateful morning, I was getting ready to leave for work. I was tired from flying home after a wonderful family reunion the day before and blamed that exhaustion on the time change. Within a few minutes I started getting a severe headache, feeling nauseous, having hot flashes that made me feel like I was melting, and lastly, vision loss in both eyes (like someone had a flashlight on the brightest setting).
I asked my husband to call 911 as I am in healthcare and thought I was possibly having a heart attack. He did and the last thing I remember is our EMT/Paramedic neighbors on the mountain being there to immediately assess my symptoms. I said “I love you and I will see you at the hospital” to my husband and that was it…until I woke up 5 weeks later in a panic. I didn’t know where I was and I also wasn’t able to move, speak, or see well. I heard so much noise and people talking, but was still in a great deal of pain.
The rest of this story was told to me by my husband and family since I had no recollection of the time that I missed. As I understand, I passed away on the ride down our mountain canyon, but the expertise of the ambulance staff brought me back. They happened to have with them a machine called a mini-ECMO machine which was being trialed at the time for cardiac patients. I was in the right place at the right time.
We got to the ER and in a span of a few moments, the doctors decided that I needed more, so I was transported to a high risk ICU for care. At this time I had at least 6 doctors and great staff looking after me, but no one could understand why this was happening or how to stop it. Within a matter of hours, things got worse. I now had compartment syndrome from the larger/harder working ECMO machine, meaning that it was pushing blood too fast throughout my body. The specialists were amazing working with each other to save me–cardiac, thoracic, hand, arm, neurologist, pulmonary, and general surgeon. They all brought me back to life since I had passed away once again. It was then that a visiting doctor asked if they had checked an MRI. The doctor had heard of similar symptoms that could be adrenal related.
The MRI did end up showing a tiny adrenaline gland tumor. From there came the cortisol blood tests and 24/7 urine tests, which all now came back positive for a pheo tumor. That was what had sent my body into overdrive. I was in a medicated coma throughout the next month while more life saving surgeries were done. Finally, I woke up, and it was now the end of July. I was still not able to move, but speaking was better after the tubes were all removed. However, I was still not mentally understanding what had happened.
My family tried to explain, but I couldn’t and still sometimes have a hard time piecing it all together. I maintained a busy schedule once they found that I had kept my brain functioning. One of the doctors related this as someone who has been struck by lightning and survived. Weirdly, my mind was okay; I didn’t seem to suffer that way. But I was traumatized by the total body damage that this tiny tumor caused. They said I needed surgery, but there was a risk it could explode again and I might not be as lucky to survive at all.
My husband and family left it to me to decide. I prayed, cried, and talked to many people who were visiting me. My loved ones were telling me how much I meant to them. It was then that I decided to press forward and follow the PT, OT, and speech therapy that I needed to complete in order to gain strength before the surgery. My surgeon was planning to remove the pheo tumor in October.
It was day by day and I couldn’t have made it without everyone around me. There were days that I just wanted to give up, but with some divine intervention, I am here today and sent back to learn to do all my daily activities again.
It’s now February, 2025–I am grateful, but torn. I wish someone would have told me what to watch for when this first started happening. It could have changed my life. I still have loss of vision, so no driving yet. I still have numbness in my left hand and fingers, so playing the piano is very challenging. But my story has helped put the information out there, saving at least three friends from a similar adrenaline gland tumor & inflammation. They had their surgeries and treatments without incident.
I know in my heart, that without all of my emergency healthcare workers, doctors, therapists, and especially my family, I would not be here to say: “Thank you so much. If you ever need anything I am there for you.” ❤️