It was during her final year of undergraduate studies that Serina Timperio, BFA’18, was diagnosed with an astrocytoma brain tumour.
Over the summer, Timperio completed a backpacking trip across Europe with her friends and participated in a Queen’s dig in Italy before classes began in the fall, all while experiencing terrible headaches.
Soon after starting her first term of final year, the headaches worsened. Timperio visited clinics and emergency care multiple times only to be given new pain medication each time, without additional testing.
Near the end of October, her symptoms escalated to the point where she struggled to lift her head off the pillow. It was at this point her mother contacted Kingston General Hospital. After hours spent in the ER, Timperio had an eye exam where the doctor noticed something behind her eye. An MRI exam was ordered, and that was when her brain tumour was discovered. Two days later, Timperio underwent her first surgery on Oct. 31, 2016.
“I hope people who hear my story can take away the importance of not ignoring the signs your body is giving you, to trust your gut and push for treatment.”
In 2017, Timperio returned to Queen’s while undergoing chemotherapy. At this time, she had to shift her art style to better accommodate her physical abilities, as working on large canvases caused an unnecessary strain.
It was during the BFA Art Exhibition in 2018, that Timperio first met fellow alumni Rob Baker, Artsci’86, LLD’16, of The Tragically Hip, and his wife Leslie Galbraith, Artsci’90, MAC’93. The couple were very understanding of her experience after supporting the late Gord Downie, Artsci’87, LLD’16, throughout his battle with brain cancer. It was through the couple that Timperio was encouraged to meet with Dr. D.J. Cook, an Associate Professor of Neurosurgery in the Department of Surgery and member of the Centre for Neuroscience Studies at Queen's. Since then, she has kept in contact with the couple and thinks of them as extended family or “cugini cari” (dear cousins or friends in Italian).
When beginning her Masters in 2019, Timperio met with Dr. Cook. After running tests, they learned that her tumour had regrown, which explained why she was suffering from three to four seizures a day. On Feb. 14, 2020, Dr. Cook performed a second surgery, reducing the size of the tumour. Thanks to Dr. Cook, Timperio suffers fewer and less severe seizures today.
After taking a year off from her master’s degree, post-surgery, and suffering the social isolation many of us experienced during the pandemic, Timperio was searching for an outlet that would get her out of the house.
Timperio took horse-riding lessons during her high-school years and returned to Ironstone Stables to rediscover the freedom of riding. It was then she and the owners came up with the idea for the virtual ride. At Ironstone Stables, Timperio and other riders rode approximately 618 kilometres (the distance between Windsor and Kingston, Ont.) by Oct. 24 – Brain Cancer Awareness Day, in support of Dr. Cook's research.
To date, she’s raised $16,000 for Dr. Cook’s research into minimally invasive brain surgery and hopes to reach a goal of $20,000.
You can help support Timperio’s ride for research by making a charitable donation before Nov. 1, in honour of International Brain Tumour Awareness Week.
