Woman discovered seizures were a result of tennis-ball-sized tumour
24.04.2023 - 16:39
/ manchestereveningnews.co.uk
When Helen Green began experiencing seizures, she believed it was a result of stress from the Covid pandemic.
However, as the seizures didn't seem to be getting any better, the 58-year-old had a phone consultation with her doctor, who referred her for an MRI scan. Just hours after attending the scan, Helen was told that she had a 6cm tumour growing on the left temporal lobe of her brain.
The tumour was so serious that doctors were surprised Helen was still able to walk and talk. Usually, patients with a similar tumour in that region of the brain would be unable to speak and would suffer from long-term memory problems.
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Following her diagnosis, Helen underwent a four-hour operation at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham where doctors were able to successfully remove the tumour. They confirmed that the mass was a low-grade meningioma.
She now requires regular check-ups to ensure that the tumour never grows back. “I got taken to A&E - where I got sat down and given cognitive tests," she said.
"I was confused to why I was being checked over and over again. At the time I didn’t know, but they knew about the tumour. I went into hospital at 8.30am and at 3.30pm I was told I had a brain tumour. I thought it was a death sentence.
"I was with my mum, Sheila, 83, we both broke down and then pulled ourselves together and called around the family. I am grateful to be alive and grateful to wake up in the morning.”
Helen added: “I named the tumour duckie egg and the triplets as it was around the size of a duck egg. The doctors also found three shadows which is where the triplets came from.“I couldn’t bring myself to tell people I had a brain tumour. I