Alice Giddings
Published April 10, 2026 5:12pm
Updated April 10, 2026 5:13pm
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Jolene (left) with her three children and her husband Spencer in hospital (Picture: SWNS)
Jolene Eddy’s world was turned upside down when her husband and father to their three young children, Spencer, was diagnosed with a rare cancer.
‘When we found out Spencer had a brain tumour, we were terrified,’ she recalls. He’d suffered with ‘dizzy spells’ for years but doctors dismissed the 39 year old’s symptoms as a simple case of vertigo.
But the reality was much worse. He was subsequently diagnosed with medulloblastoma, a cancerous brain tumour which typically occurs in children, and is extremely rare in adults.
What Jolene, 38, didn’t see coming was her own cancer diagnosis, just months after her husband had received his.
Their ordeal started in April 2024, when Spencer began ‘walking like he was drunk’ after getting off a plane, so the couple went to an ear, nose and throat doctor in a neighbouring town, who did an MRI, and found a tumour the size of a lime.
‘We’d requested MRI’s [in the past] but were just told the chances of it being a brain tumour were so astronomically low, that it just wouldn’t make sense,’ stay-at-home mum Jolene, from Williston, North Dakota, says.
Spencer in hospital after his brain surgery, being taken care of by Jolene (Picture: Jolene Eddy / SWNS)
Spencer was then referred to the Mayo Clinic, in Rochester, Minnesota, in October 2025, so Jolene drove him for 11 hours to the hospital, where he was told he had medulloblastoma.
‘They said the cancer was blocking the fluid that flows from your vein to your spinal cord,’ Jolene explains. ‘They didn’t know how he was still walking and talking, and how he hadn’t had a stroke.’
Spencer had to wait for eight days in the clinic, as the brain surgeon was on a family holiday, before he underwent a 10-hour surgery to remove the tumour.
Prior to the operation, the couple were told there were significant risks, but thankfully the procedure went well, and doctors removed 85% of the tumour.
‘After the surgery, we didn’t know if he would be able to walk or talk again, or whether he’d be brain dead,’ Jolene adds.
‘After the surgery, Spencer had speech and physical therapy, to teach him how to walk and talk again, whilst he underwent 30 rounds of radiation to tackle the remaining 15% of the tumour.’
But it was while Spencer was recovering that the mum-of-three noticed something worrying with her own health.
Jolene in hospital after her double mastectomy (Picture: Jolene Eddy / SWNS)
‘When we were in hospital, I noticed a small pea-sized lump under my armpit, but I put it to the back of my mind, because of everything that was going on with Spencer,’ Jolene says.
Following two weeks of impatient rehab, the couple moved into an Airbnb nearby, and their three kids came to stay with them. Jolene home-schooled the kids, whilst Spencer went to his radiation appointments, and in January 2025, the family were finally able to move back home to North Dakota.
It was then that Jolene went to the doctors, who told her the lump was likely just a cyst. ‘I asked for it to be removed anyway, and when it came back from testing, I found out it was breast cancer,’ she recalls.
‘I was absolutely floored. We were so devastated and scared about what would happen to our kids. If one parent dies, you have another one to rely on, but if both die, you have no one.’
Following her diagnosis, Jolene was put on hormone blockers, and underwent a double mastectomy in April 2025, whilst Spencer was still in chemotherapy.
She chose not to have breast implants, as she didn’t want to undergo more than one surgery, whilst also looking after Spencer, but after the surgery she kept passing out and being sick, so her worried sister raced her back to hospital.
Jolene had to take care of spencer despite having cancer herself (Picture: Jolene Eddy / SWNS)
Jolene ended up having to have a blood transfusion as her body was starting to shut down following the surgery.
‘I had to have two units of blood, thankfully after that I felt normal again,’ she says.
Spencer finished his chemotherapy in June 2025, and an MRI following his treatment showed no signs of cancer. But it doesn’t mean recovery has been easy for the couple.
‘We go to doctors’ visits together, it’s easier for the oncologist to see us both at the same time,’ Jolene explains.
‘Spencer still can’t walk well, or drive, I feel like I can’t have bad days, because I’m taking care of my husband. I still have to cook breakfast, lunch and dinner, and take care of everyone.’
Spencer and Jolene (left) with their children and family after he finished chemotherapy (Picture: Jolene Eddy / SWNS)
It’s impacted their children, too. ‘Our kids are coping well, but their perspective on everything has changed,’ she adds. ‘In their schoolwork they’re always writing about how they hope we get better, and stay healthy.
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Spencer now has MRIs every three months to make sure the cancer doesn’t come back, and Jolene is also currently cancer free.
Despite their diagnoses, the couple remain positive about the future and are determined to continue fighting.
‘We’re living most people’s nightmare, but we’re feeling optimistic about the future,’ Jolene says.
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‘We have a long life, and we’re going to fight for it, we’re not going to give up.’
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