Help Support Tory Frentzel's Battle Against Brain Tumor

My name is Tory Frentzel, and I do not often ask for help. Unfortunately, some things have majorly changed, and it's time to ask friends and family for support. My dad, Tom Frentzel, and my fiance, Jackson Stein, are my biggest supporters, but with the situation now we could all use help and support in any way possible. I have a non-cancerous brain tumor that has shown growth and now is needing radiation treatment. This tumor is slowly growing into the largest vein in the brain, making surgery too risky at this point. The radiation will help the tumor stop growing.

My story is not a simple one, but a story of a woman who has been through a lot in her life and with her family. In 2009, I was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, had surgery to remove an 8lb tumor and one ovary, followed by nearly five months of chemotherapy. In June of 2010, I was declared cancer-free, though I knew my journey was not over. I would have to be checked every six months, then every year, and at a certain point after my 'child-bearing years' I would need to have my other ovary removed before it could become a problem too.

After this, cancer still continued to rock my family. In 2021 I lost my mother to leukemia after her 18 month battle with the disease.

The next year, during an unrelated medical test, we found a likely benign mass in my brain that would need to be monitored. I went about my life as usual.

Then, in January 2024, I finally had my last surgery to remove my other ovary, plus a complete hysterectomy. After I recovered my oncologist told me there was no chance of recurrence now. No ovarian cancer, cervical, uterine - there is now no risk.

Let's fast forward to late 2024.

My life-long headaches that I thought were resolved as a positive side effect from my hysterectomy resumed back in the fall but came back as something that just felt different. After the holidays, they continued, so I knew it wasn't just 4th quarter retail stress from my job. In the back of my mind, I wondered if it could have something to do with that mass. I saw my doctor and she ordered an MRI and referred me back to my neurosurgeon. Admittedly, I should have gotten this follow-up MRI last year, but due to finances, as I was already struggling to pay off my surgery from earlier in the year it was delayed until this year.

After getting the results and seeing my neurosurgeon in the office again, that hunch I had turned out to be true. The mass had grown nearly a centimeter since my last scan. It doesn't sound like much, but something in your brain - well, any growth is a lot, especially in 18 months. So, where do we go from here?

First, I have to preface this by saying all things point to this tumor being non-cancerous and being a completely benign meningiomas. But since it's growing, we need to do something before it causes other issues. Surgery is not safe because of the placement, it being attached to the superior sagittal sinus (in non-medical terms, the biggest vein in the head). Growth in this period by this amount means it will likely continue to grow, so it needs to be stopped. With surgery out of the running, the next option is radiation.

So, imagine me, just a few months shy of being 15 years cancer-free, faced with the news that now radiation is in my immediate future. I've since met with two radiologists and they both have agreed on the same plan of attack: six weeks of radiation, five days a week, 30 sessions. Due to the current size of the meningioma, it should be a good candidate for radiation.

How will this affect my headaches? Great question that… We don't know the answer to. But next month, I also meet with a neurologist to try to begin down that path of headache diagnosis and treatment. Both neurosurgeon and radiologists are inconclusive if the tumor is attributing to headaches or not. It's impossible to say for sure without surgically removing it and seeing if the headaches improve or not.

And here is where we are now. I have made my peace with this for the most part. I've had this news for most of 2025, just living in purgatory between appointments for a little bit more information and the next steps. In a normal situation, you would tell the person it will all be ok and prayers will help. To be strong and you can get through this. But, as a person who survived cancer and has watched family members struggle, I am currently not looking for anything more than your positive thoughts and support and your private prayers. I know I can handle it. But to be honest, it's exhausting for someone in my situation to have to keep getting through things and to be strong. It takes so much strength and energy. Even with the support of my dad and fiance, it is a struggle, and my hands are full with constantly handling what life throws at me.

This will be a financial hardship for myself and my family. I cannot fully wrap my head around any of the details of the finances yet, as it all just recently occurred to me that even when I'm done with radiation, I'm going to have to continue to monitor with scans and neurosurgeon and neurologist check-ups for the rest of my life. I don't want to ask for anything, and I expect nothing. But if you could see it in your heart to help out in any way to take the load off of my family, I could not even begin to thank you. Just growing the circle of support around us would mean the world.