In spite of all our differences, the one thing that binds all living creatures is that we each have an expiration date. This finality to our existence is what makes life special, something to be cherished and protected. But occasionally things can go terribly wrong…
To quote the famous Arnold Schwarteneggar line from the movie Kindergarten Cop, “It’s not a tumor!” No, it’s something even more insidious — a worm in her brain.
Phoenix woman Rosemary Alvarez had been experiencing blurred vision and numbness in her arm. She went to the emergency room twice and had a cat scan, though everything came up clear. But when doctors took a closer look at an MRI, they discovered something very disturbing.
“Once we saw the MRI we realized this is something not good,” said neurosurgeon Dr. Peter Nakaji. “It’s something down in her brain stem which is as deep in the brain as you can be.” Alvarez went into surgery where Nakaji was expecting to remove a tumor, but they discovered a worm instead.
Doctors believe Alvarez contacted the worm by eating undercooked pork or from someone who didn’t wash their hands after using the bathroom. “It only takes one person who is spreading it constantly to get a lot of people exposed and some of those people are going to go on to develop this problem,” Nakaji said. Alvarez said she hopes others learn a lesson from her story: “Wash your hands.”
