Woman, 42, says she’s ‘relieved’ after marble-sized brain tumor turned out to be a TAPEWORM

A New York woman says she is ‘relieved’ after what doctors believed to be a brain tumor turned out to be a parasite. 

Last year, 42-year-old Rachel Palma began having trouble remembering words and was experiencing slight tremors in her hands.

Doctor and doctor couldn’t figure out what was wrong, until surgeons at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City told her she had a malignant brain tumor and they planned to remove it.

But in September, when doctors opened her skull for the three-hour operation, they didn’t find a marble-size brain tumor, but rather a tapeworm, reported ABC 7.

Doctors at Mount Sinai Hospital performed scans and concluded Palma had a brain tumor. Pictured: Palma

Rachel Palma, 42 (left and right), from Middletown, New York, started forgetting words and experiencing tremors in January 2018. Doctors at Mount Sinai Hospital performed scans and concluded Palma had a brain tumor

In September 2018, doctors planned to remove the tumor. But, instead, they found a tapeworm in Palma's brain (pictured)

In September 2018, doctors planned to remove the tumor. But, instead, they found a tapeworm in Palma’s brain (pictured)

To some patients, hearing that they have a tapeworm would be disheartening news, but not to Palma.

‘The good news is, I don’t have cancer,’ she told ABC 7.

Palma, from Middletown, said she first started experiencing symptoms in January 2018. 

She was dropping coffee mugs, struggled to complete sentences and even tried to contact family members that had passed away.

She visited several doctors and had multiple scans, but had no answers – until she visited specialists at Mount Sinai in September.

Results from her brain scans showed that she had a small lesion, about the size of a marble, on her right lobe, and doctors planned to remove it one surgery. 

Her medical team admits they were relieved when they began the surgery and discovered the tapeworm.

‘We were, like, overjoyed,’ Dr Jonathan Rasouli, chief resident of neurosurgery at Mount Sinai, told ABC 7. 

‘We were, like, cheering and clapping. We were so happy…When we got in there and saw that it was a tapeworm, we were like: “YES!’ We were so happy!”‘

Tapeworms are long, flat worms that live in the intestines of animals.

The most common cause of infection in humans is eating undercooked meat or traveling outside of the US.

Tapeworms have evolved specialized ‘heads’ that carry an arsenal of spines or retractable hooks to attach themselves to the intestines of their hosts.

The most common cause of infection in humans is eating undercooked meat or traveling outside of the US, but Palma doesn't remember doing either. Pictured, left and right: Palma after surgery to remove the parasite from her brain

The most common cause of infection in humans is eating undercooked meat or traveling outside of the US, but Palma doesn’t remember doing either. Pictured, left and right: Palma after surgery to remove the parasite from her brain

Palma (pictured) says she is grateful to her medical team and wants to bring awareness and education about tapeworms to others

Palma (pictured) says she is grateful to her medical team and wants to bring awareness and education about tapeworms to others

These parasites don’t have a gut of their own. Instead, they use their outer surface to absorb nutrients and excrete waste.    

According to the Mayo Clinic, tapeworms can leave the intestines and infect other organs in the body.  

On her part, Palma says she has no idea how she was infected, but doesn’t think she wants to know the answer. 

‘I stopped asking questions and started celebrating and making the most out of life because, in an instant, it can be taken away,’ she told ABC 7.

Palma says she’s grateful to her medical team and wants to bring awareness and education about tapeworms to others.

‘There is not a doubt in my mind that [the doctors] saved my life,’ she said. ‘And they gave me my life back.’