Becca Valle was 37 years old when she began to suffer from what she thought were “chronic migraines.” A few weeks after the headaches started, she underwent a major surgery that led to a much more serious diagnosis.
Now 41, Valle told CBS News that the headaches started around September 2021.
Valle was otherwise healthy and had recently achieved her goal of running a marathon. However, she told PEOPLE that her headaches were getting progressively worse.
Her doctor thought that she might have an issue with her sinuses, but the medication she was prescribed wasn’t doing anything to ease her pain.
Three weeks after the headaches started, Valle‘s symptoms got so bad that she was went to the hospital with her boyfriend where she underwent a brain surgery that answered some unknown questions.
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“Emails I had sent to my work letting them know I was signing off for the day were gibberish, so much so that a close colleague escalated to my boss, as it frightened him,” Valle recalled about that day to PEOPLE. “By this point, I was in the ER and writing texts with similar gibberish to my partner, since he was not allowed in with me due to COVID.”
While in the emergency room, doctors learned that there was blood in her brain, according to CBS. Valle underwent an exploratory craniotomy — a surgery in which “part of the skull is removed to examine the brain.”
During the surgery, doctors discovered a brain tumor. It was later diagnosed as glioblastoma.
Glioblastoma is “a fast-growing and aggressive brain tumor,” according to the American Association of Neurological Surgeons. Described as “devastating,” the disease “can result in death in six months or less if untreated.”
The Mayo Clinic noted that there is “no cure” for the cancer. However, doctors can remove as much of the tumor as possible before a patient begins chemotherapy to help stop the cancerous cells from growing, per AANS.
Valle‘s tumor was completely removed during a second surgery, a rare feat, according to CBS.
That was just the start of her treatment course.
“Getting my diagnosis was an interesting journey,” she admitted to PEOPLE. “My type A personality clicked in, and I called doctors around the U.S. to do diligence on every possible trial and treatment that exists, confirm my diagnosis and to seek additional medical advice. This gave me a better feeling of control and resolve that I could navigate this challenge.”
She ultimately decided to undergo a trial overseen by University of Maryland Medical Center’s chief of neurosurgery, Dr. Graeme Woodworth.
Part of what makes it difficult to treat glioblastoma is the existence of the blood-brain barrier — “a protective layer of cells that prevents most medications from entering the brain,” per CBS.
The goal of the trial was to have patients undergo focused ultrasounds to ease the barrier so that chemotherapies could be more effective at targeting cancer cells.
Valle told CBS joining the trial was “a no-brainer.”
She underwent multiple focused ultrasound treatments over six months with additional testing to determine if the tumors were returning.
“It wasn’t until we had the follow-up data, months and months later, that we saw up to 40% of the patients in the study were still alive at a time we expected most would have succumbed to progressive brain cancer,” Woodworth told CBS, noting that there was “early evidence” that the trial was successful.
While doctors don’t typically say that patients with this aggressive form of cancer are in “remission,” Valle told PEOPLE that she chooses “not to think about cancer returning.”
“I call myself cancer-free and continue to embrace my favorite things in life: time with friends and family, traveling and staying curious about new cultures and experiences, staying committed to my active lifestyle of hiking, skiing, boxing and more,” she said. “I see a future filled with these same joys.”
She told CBS that she was an “outlier,” saying that she now undergoes two MRIs each year to check if the cancer is returning. So far, there’s “no evidence” that it is there.
Valle shared some advice: “As much as you can, take control of your journey. Talk to doctors and others who have gone through the same. Know what studies and trials exist,” she told PEOPLE.
Continuing, she recommended that cancer patients explore support groups, saying that they “saved” her.
“Cancer is lonely, and while people you love will show up for you, they don’t always know what to say. Support groups offered me comfort in being able to talk openly and honestly about emotions in ways that didn’t come as easily with those who didn’t have a shared experience,” Valle said.