People.com Lifestyle Health Jeannie Gaffigan Assumed Brain Tumor Symptoms — Like Headaches — Were from Being a Busy Mom of 5 The comedy writer and mom of five, who had surgery for a benign brain tumor in 2017, chronicles her health crisis in a new book When Life Gives You Pears By Julie Jordan Julie Jordan Instagram Twitter Julie Jordan is an Editor at Large for PEOPLE. She has been with the brand for 25 years, holding various roles in the Los Angeles Bureau including Associate Bureau Chief. In 2006, she relocated to the Midwest where she continues to cover all things entertainment and Hollywood, including celebrity covers, features and specials such as Sexiest Man Alive and the Beautiful Issue.Prior to joining PEOPLE, Jordan freelanced for magazines such as SOUTHERN LIVING and graduated from the University of Missouri with a Bachelor's degree in Journalism. She is well-versed in what it takes to be the Sexiest Man Alive (having interviewed 11 of them for their cover stories) and considers shooting a confetti cannon on-stage alongside Garth Brooks during his performance of "Friends in Low Places" a career highlight. People Editorial Guidelines Published on September 18, 2019 09:15 AM Share Tweet Pin Email It was easy for Jeannie Gaffigan to ignore the signs of a brain tumor. As a busy, working mom of five children with comedian and husband Jim Gaffigan, 53, Jeannie would often have headaches and dizzy spells, surely just symptoms of their busy life and workload, she thought. “In retrospect, of course, I knew something wasn’t right,” she tells PEOPLE exclusively in this week’s issue. “It was there.” Her kids’ pediatrician was actually the one to suggest she go to an ENT specialist in March 2017 after Jeannie, 49, mentioned she couldn’t hear well out of her left ear. A few weeks later, an MRI revealed she had a 6-cm mass the size of a pear on her brain stem. “It became real when I heard ‘tumor’ and saw the picture,” she recalls. Later she asked her neurosurgeon, “I just have one question, ‘Am I going to die?’ ” Jim Gaffigan and Wife Jeannie Reveal How Humor Helped Them Cope with Her Brain Tumor Diagnosis Robert Trachtenberg/Trunk Archive Now, the comedy writer is sharing her journey — through surgery and her recovery — in a new book, When Life Gives you Pears. The experience indelibly shaped Jeannie as a parent and a wife, as Jim had to shift into caregiver mode for the entire family. “He had to do all of it without knowing what it was,” she says. “He was learning the schedule, and he was the boss. He was becoming me.” For more from Jeannie and Jim Gaffigan, pick up this week’s issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday After her surgeon removed all of the tumor, the nerve damage left her unable to swallow anything, including water, and she developed pneumonia in the hospital. She was finally able to go home after three weeks with the help of a tracheostomy and feeding tube, which was removed after four months. Kevin Mazur/Getty Comedian Jim Gaffigan’s Wife Jeannie Writes About Her Brain Tumor in a New Book: See the Cover More than two years post-surgery, Jeannie is back working and taking care of her family, but more mindful as well. “I think it’s easy to see how I explained it all away,” she says of the tumor’s symptoms. “It has to inform my life now, and it has to be something that I can communicate to people who are busy. About taking the time to at least check in with yourself and say, ‘Something’s not right.’ ” Today she insists she is grateful for her brain tumor. “If it had not been for this thing that almost killed me, I would not be able to appreciate every breath I take and every drop of water I swallow. Or the incredible support system I have with my community, friends and family,” she adds. “I would not have known that being away from my kids would be so heartbreaking. Now my heart explodes when I’m with them. And I’m grateful that I understand why God gave me the most generous, loving, fantastic and funniest husband in the world.” When Life Gives You Pears hits bookshelves on Oct. 1.