The Alicia Shaffer Foundation
Know the signs.
Trust yourself. Insist on answers.
Dizziness. Balance problems. Headaches that keep coming back. Too often, the early warning signs of a brain tumor are mistaken for everything else until it's too late. We're here to change that.
Founded in loving memory of Alicia Shaffer · 1989 – 2026
Our Mission
Because knowing the signs saves lives
The Alicia Shaffer Foundation is dedicated to raising awareness of the early warning signs of brain tumors and advocating for timely neurological imaging.
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I
Know the Signs
Learn the symptoms that deserve a closer look, especially when several appear together and keep getting worse.
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II
Trust Your Instincts
You know your body better than anyone. When something feels wrong and the explanations don't add up, take it seriously.
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III
Advocate for Imaging
Only a brain scan can confirm or rule out a tumor. We help patients ask for it, and we encourage providers to scan early when symptoms don't add up.
Her Story
She believed it was anything but this
Alicia was 36. Vibrant, hilarious, magnetic: the kind of person who made every room warmer. For eight weeks she felt lightly dizzy and off balance, and it slowly got worse. In her last two weeks came headaches; in her final days, double vision, nausea, and trouble holding onto things.
Each symptom, on its own, seemed explainable. Together, they were a pattern no one caught in time. Two brain tumors were discovered on December 28, 2025. She passed away nine days later, with her husband Jason beside her.
This foundation is her legacy, built so the next person insists on a scan while there's still time to act.
Know the Signs
Symptoms that deserve a closer look
Most of these have ordinary causes. But when they're new, worsening, or happening together, they warrant a real answer, not a guess.
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Dizziness & balance trouble
Feeling off balance, veering or bumping into things, unsteadiness that keeps returning or gets worse.
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Headaches that won’t quit
New or changing headaches, often worse in the morning, with coughing or straining, or unrelieved by the usual medicine.
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Vision changes
Double vision, blurriness, or losing part of your field of view, even if it comes and goes.
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Nausea or vomiting
Especially alongside headaches or dizziness, or worse in the morning without another explanation.
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Clumsiness & coordination
Trouble grabbing or holding things, weakness or numbness, difficulty with movements that used to be automatic.
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Thinking & personality shifts
New confusion, memory trouble, drowsiness, mood or behavior changes noticed by you or the people who love you.
Seek emergency care now for a sudden, severe “worst of your life” headache, a first-ever seizure, or sudden weakness, vision loss, or trouble speaking.
- 90,000+ Americans are diagnosed with a primary brain tumor every year
- ~19,000 lives are lost to brain cancer in the U.S. each year
- 8 weeks Alicia's dizziness went unexplained before anyone looked at her brain
- 1 scan is all it takes to confirm or rule out a tumor. Only imaging can.
Advocate for Yourself
If your body is telling you something is wrong, listen. Then say it out loud.
“Could my symptoms be neurological? What would it take to rule that out?” One direct question can change the course of a life. We'll help you find the words.
Alicia was the love of my life. If her story makes even one person pause, trust themselves, and ask for a scan, then her light is still saving lives. Jason, her husband