BeWell Cancer Story: Sabrina Leamon
Brain Cancer
I was 24 years old when I was diagnosed with a cancerous brain tumor that I was told was incurable. At the time of diagnosis I didn't even know brain cancer existed, let alone someone my age could be diagnosed with it.
My life prior to diagnosis was hectic. I was running two successful social media businesses with my boyfriend who had hopped on the YouTube train before the internet blew up. I was smoking weed, partying, treating my body as if it would be young and healthy forever, and living for myself. I had everything the world told me I needed to be "happy" - money, internet fame, material items, followers, a relationship, physical beauty, yet still, I found myself totally empty on the inside. I was smoking everyday trying to numb the fact that I wasn't happy when I knew I should be. I wanted desperately to figure out what my purpose was on earth. If I had achieved it all so young, why was I still so sad? I started praying to God, not knowing if I really even believed in a god, asking "it" or "him" to show me my purpose. I prayed that "prayer" for a year and was diagnosed in the middle of the COVID-19 global pandemic of 2020. This is when everything changed.
Shortly after having a Grand Mal seizure, I underwent a 17-hour surgery where my surgeon removed nearly all of my temporal lobe. He left a small amount that was in a critical area of my vision fibers and I was given the diagnosis of grade 2/3 astrocytoma a week later. Recovery went smoothly, I regained strength and I went right back to living how I was before. Except this time, I tried to numb every feeling about what I had just gone through. I started smoking marijuana all day everyday. I was working longer hours, and pouring all of myself into everyone around me so I didn't have to focus on the pain I felt about being diagnosed with a disease I was told could take my life in 6-10 years.
Somewhere in between surgery and my relapse in 2023, I found true relationship with God, much different than religion. I had been raised in a Christian household my entire life but nothing ever resonated with me due to the hypocrisy going on behind closed doors. It was through this diagnosis that God revealed himself to me and I started growing my relationship with Jesus. He showed me how I was living was killing me and change needed to be made, but I didn't listen. After 3 years of living like this, I started having focal seizures. Shortly after, I was told by my oncologist that the tumor was growing back and I needed another procedure. This time my surgeon and I decided on a newer, innovative procedure that would be less invasive and have a less extensive recovery. I underwent a LITT (Laser Interstitial Thermal Therapy) procedure in October of 2023 at UCSD, exactly three years after my first craniotomy.
After this intervention, I decided to go all in on a new type of healing. I had come to the end of myself and I didn't want to feel anxious or worried anymore. I knew that if I continued living how I was, this tumor would keep growing back. I didn't want to have to numb the pain, so I gave it to the healer of pain. God brought me to people on social media that were using integrative methods to heal their cancer and I decided to go that route. I went sober January 1, 2024 and drastically changed every aspect of my life. I was shown that our bodies are resilient and can heal if given the proper tools. I did hard work healing emotional things that I had been holding onto since I was a child. I started treatment at the Cancer Center for Healing (CCFH) in Irvine, CA and learned so much information beyond what conventional medicine teaches. I learned that we are all unique cases and there isn't a "one size fits all" approach to healing the same diagnosis. I spent all of 2024 healing my physical and emotional well being.
In June of 2024 I was told the remaining portion of my tumor was growing again. This time I felt no fear, and was ready to fight again. In January of 2025 I underwent another 17 hour craniotomy much like my first. This time around I feel free in that my outcome is in the hands of the creator and regardless of what happens on Earth, i'm healed in eternity. I incorporate many healing modalities that I learned about at CCFH and through other resources, and I’m confident that I’ve done all I can to give my body the best chance at surviving this.
God showed me through cancer that the "happiness" I was looking for doesn't exist. He showed me that despite circumstance, there is a joy that exists and I’m so grateful to have found that truth through an incurable cancer diagnosis. I pray for my earthly miracle everyday and know that if I do not get it, I received the gift of eternal health through Jesus' sacrifice on the cross, and that brings insurmountable joy. As a now 5 year cancer fighter and survivor, I see that the best thing that I've done for my health is removing the constant stress around "what's best" treatment wise. I’ve educated myself on all the clean swaps and modalities to help my body be the best it can be, and I give the rest to the creator of the universe.