KENDALL, Fla. – Since she was a little girl, Sabrina Jimenez has been captivated by dancing.
“I’ve been dancing since I was two and a half years old and I’ve danced competitively since I was four,” she said.
But her life took an unexpected ‘twist’ off stage in March of 2019 when Jimenez was diagnosed with Medulloblastoma brain cancer.
“I honestly had no idea what it was,” Jimenez said.
Dr. Matthew Hall, Lead Pediatric Radiation Oncologist for Baptist Health Miami Cancer Institute, explained.
“Medulloblastoma is an aggressive brain tumor that begins at the bottom of the brain, kind of right behind the eyes,” he said.
Hall said the fast growing tumor can spread to other areas of the brain.
“It is the second most common pediatric brain tumor it occurs in about 350 children per year and about 150 to 200 young adults per year,” he said.
Symptoms include nausea and vomiting, tiredness, balance problems, changes in vision, difficulty walking, back pain and urinary or bowel incontinence.
Hall said the upfront treatment approach is surgery, chemotherapy and radiation but the type of radiation is important.
Miami Cancer Institute is one of 42 centers in the country offering a targeted approach called proton therapy.
“It is different from regular radiation by the fact that it gives significantly less radiation dose to the tissues the areas that don’t need radiation,” Hall said.
And that reduces the chances of long term problems.
“Such as to memory, cognition, hormones and a number of others that brain tumor patients face,” Hall said.
Jimenez is approaching four years in remission and is now planning what she hopes will be a vibrant future in the medical profession.
“I want to be a pediatric oncologist so I can tell the kids ‘hey look, I went through this, so I can help you, I can answer your questions’”, she said.
The exact cause of Medulloblastoma is unknown but certain genetic conditions, including BRCA1 gene mutations, could increase the risk of this type of brain cancer.