Herriman man: Brain tumor felt like 'brain freeze'


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HERRIMAN — Jason Williams is a father of four. A runner and athlete, just over a year ago he got the shock of his life.

"I've got a scar," said Williams, who lives in Herriman. He pointed to the back of his head. "It starts here and goes up about 7 inches."

The scan at University Hospital revealed an aggressive brain tumor. His symptoms started with fatigue, then vertigo and headaches.

"It would feel like I'd just eaten a gallon of ice cream in about 10 seconds — major brain freeze and that was way worse than the vertigo," he said.

But his wife, Amy, insisted that he act, then doctors acted quickly.

Dr. Joel MacDonald, neurosurgeon at University Health Care, found a white mass at the base of his skull, which was blocking the flow of spinal fluid. He said the four-hour surgery to remove it was fairly complicated. He used an MRI during surgery to make sure he got all the tumor.

"If the brain stem gets injured, that can affect a person's consciousness or virtually his control of every function of the body," MacDonald said. "From eye movement all the way to walking."

Going into surgery, Williams said he was upbeat. He even wore a Hawaiian shirt joking that the surgery was costing as much as a vacation. But when he woke, he couldn't swallow, move his head, and suffered excruciating pain.

"Everything seemed in slow motion as I looked around," Williams said. "My voice sounded like a little robot and I'd speak really slow and forget things people told me."

Then came the difficult job of recovering at home. Williams had to relearn the daily activities of life: like how to shower and dress himself. He was also dealing with double vision.


Every day is a gift, and you've got to treat it like a gift because it really is. Now I realize it could be gone in the blink of an eye.

–Jason Williams


Slowly, Williams made his way back. He said the experience strengthened his faith, and brought he and his wife closer together.

"Every day is a gift, and you've got to treat it like a gift because it really is," he said. "Now I realize it could be gone in the blink of an eye."

And the Williams have a special gift of their own.

"A new baby, yeah," said Amy, laughing. "She'll be here in about six weeks. It's a miracle. To go from within just a year, we're having a baby, after he'd been in the hospital."

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