Queensland nurse Tori Dent opens up about learning to walk and talk again after brain lesion

A young nurse has defied incredible odds after doctors told her that a lesion found in her brain nearly three years ago would take away her ability to walk, talk and smile.

Tori Dent, from Queensland, was just 25 when she started experiencing motion sickness after a cruise holiday with friends in March 2020.

Initially attributing the episodes to vertigo, Ms Dent became concerned when her balance continued to deteriorate to the point that she was unable to walk without assistance.

He was taken to Logan Hospital in south Brisbane, where he worked, for a covid test, but it came back negative.

Ms Dent then received a brain scan which revealed that she had been battling a brain tumor lesion, an area of ​​damaged tissue that they can be cancerous or benign, but dangerous depending on their size and location.

Although doctors initially believed the injury was inoperable, Ms. Dent was unfazed by the diagnosis.

“My little sister came into the room crying and I was like ‘I’m fine, stop crying,'” she said. A current matter.

As the lesion grew rapidly, the doctors decided to go for surgery in which 80 percent of the growth was removed.

However, more bad news was yet to come.

“Within a month after surgery, it grew to 5.2 centimeters,” Ms. Dent said.

The new growth left Ms Dent unable to walk, talk or swallow, and she was admitted to the ICU for months until her condition stabilized.

Ms Dent was just 25 when she first experienced motion sickness after a cruise holiday with friends in March 2020, initially attributing it to sea legs or Covid

She then had to relearn how to complete basic tasks like walking and talking, and after 14 months of rehabilitation, she was back on her feet and was able to return home.

But for Ms. Dent, her biggest goal is trying to smile.

“It’s your identity and I feel like I’ve partially lost mine,” he said.

Her brain injury has left her with facial paralysis on the left side, meaning the muscles are much weaker, while her left vocal cord is no longer functional.

Despite spending months in a hospital bed, the young nurse’s positivity never wavered.

‘The fact that she kept her personality throughout the entire experience, and she was still Tori. That was the calm that kept everyone, including herself,” her friend Casey Rose told the show.

An MRI showed that Ms Dent had an abnormal growth on her brain

After an initially successful surgery, the lesion quickly grew back, leaving her in the ICU unable to walk, speak or swallow (pictured)

Nearly three years after her initial diagnosis, Ms. Dent is still receiving daily rehab and strength training.

Duct tape is also placed on the face to help train the muscles to stay in place.

Incredibly, his lesion has shrunk to the point where it is now smaller than when it was first discovered.

“I wasn’t meant to recover, but since I’m the way I am, he [the doctor] expect it to continue,’ he said.

‘I love to hear that.

‘I’m getting better. I don’t really care what other people say, I know I’m getting better.

Ms. Dent has become an inspiration to many as she fearlessly documents her progress on social media.

Since then he has attended weddings, parties and has even shown his progress by riding a mechanical bull.

I’m excited. It makes me think that maybe, just maybe, I can get closer to what I was before,” she said.

Ms. Dent was able to leave the hospital after 14 months of rehabilitation, and nearly three years of daily training have given her the strength to attend weddings and parties (pictured)