Maggie Howell (far right) with friends at this year’s Quarter Horse Congress.

It was August and as the assistant trainer at Missy Thyfault Performance Horses in Shelby, Ohio, 26-year-old Maggie Howell was busy helping to prepare horses for the Quarter Horse Congress. August is always a busy month and this year was no exception.

That’s why as Howell’s migraine headaches returned most every day, they were dismissed as a genetic issue. After all, her sister had suffered with migraines for years.

But by October the headaches had grown too debilitating to ignore. Howell scheduled an appointment with a local eye doctor and on Oct. 10 got the surprising news.

“I told the doctor about what had been going on lately with the headaches,” Howell explained.  I was thinking she might just change my prescription.  So, she started looking at my eyes and told me that my optic nerve was extremely swollen which meant that there was something up with the pressure in my brain.  Because of that, she recommended I go straight to the emergency department.”

After leaving the eye doctor, Howell called Thyfault who drove her to the hospital in Mansfield, Ohio.

“Missy stayed with me at the ER until 3 a.m., as they performed cat scans, MRIs and other tests,” Howell said. “They ended up finding a tumor which was located in the right front portion of the brain and had my brain pushed left of center.”

Howell was transported to Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center in Columbus, a facility better equipped for the procedure Howell needed.

“They transported me that night and the tumor was removed on Friday, Oct. 14, Howell explained.

She was discharged the following Monday and says she’s doing very well. She even got to visit the Congress on Oct. 29.

“They had talked about some physical therapy, but I’ve done so well post-surgery that they decided I didn’t need it,” Howell said. “The tumor was a Grade II astrocytoma.  They have recommended that I do radiation and chemotherapy as a precaution, to keep the tumor from growing back, and I’ll be meeting with doctors to get a game plan for that soon.”

Howell said doctors are optimistic that she will be released for normal activities in the upcoming weeks.

“I want to thank both my parents, Linda and Harold Howell for all their help and support as well as Missy,” she said. “Missy stayed with me at the emergency room through the night and cared for my dog all week when I was sent to OSU for surgery.”

Although Howell has faced overwhelming adversity over the last couple of weeks, she is still looking forward to completing her plans to go out on her own and establish a training facility in Baltimore, Ohio.

Maggie Howell Performance Horses will be located on her parents’ facility, 30 miles southeast of Columbus.  The facility which has a 10 stall barn and an in-door riding facility will be where Howell will begin training and coaching exhibitors from start to finish in the all-around events.

For additional information or to wish Howell well you can contact her on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/howellm?fref=ts