In January 2020, Emer Galvin was just coming out of the Christmas celebrations, heading to her shop in Chapel Allerton.
But on the day she was due to re-open for the new year, Emer started suffering from a headache that just wouldn't go away. She tried to power through but it became too much and so she decided to take herself to A&E.
Upon arriving at the hospital she was told it was likely due to high blood pressure. She was sent home but wasn't convinced that blood pressure was the cause.
Emer decided to go back to the hospital and that's when she found out the headache was caused by a brain tumour. She noticed things had got worse when a junior doctor performed an exam.
She said: “The beginning was January before the first lockdown, I’d just finished doing Christmas and was going back to the shop”
“The day I was due to open I had a headache that just wouldn’t go away and I went to A&E, they sent me home and said it was high blood pressure but I knew something was wrong.
“Then I went back and a junior doctor was waving her hand and I couldn’t see it and after a few hours they told me the news that I had a brain tumour.”
Following her diagnosis, Emer went had a treatment of steroids and then oral chemotherapy. Emer said she was lucky to have found out, as she had no idea about the tumour.
Emer, originally from Dublin, has lived quite a life. She moved to the UK to pursue nursing school but due to acute joint problems, she only worked in nursing for five months. She then retrained to be a teacher, worked in Leeds with homeless young offenders and eventually ended up finding her calling.
Emer owns the Glasshouse Gallery, an independent shop in Chapel Allerton. This is where she spends most of her time and feels at home, she said it was a struggle to be away from the shop during her recovery.
“I just felt completely exhausted, I had to take quite a lot of time away from the shop. “That was hard, that’s where I feel the most at home, it never feels like work, being away from it was difficult but there is just no choice," Emer said.
There are around 200 types of brain tumours, each can be caused by different things and carry different symptoms. Emer started working with the Yorkshire Brain Tumour Charity to help raise awareness and help other people who may be living with the condition, without knowing.
She said: “There are so many different ways of finding out you have a brain tumour, and everyone gets headaches but they can be swept under the rug.
“The tricky thing is the diagnosis, I had quite a few MRI scans, without that it’s hard to diagnose but I think if it is something that worries people and is on their minds, it’s good to get it ruled out.
“Because it can be a very slow progress right up until you are diagnosed and it’s usually not diagnosed until the symptoms get extreme.
“It affects people in lots of different ways, it affected my vision and my speech, it all depends on the nature of the tumour but I was fortunate that they discovered it."
After the treatment, Emer began fundraising to raise money for Brain Tumour Research, which is in the process of trying to find a cure. Thousands of pounds have been raised so far across the country for such a vital charity.
Brain tumours kill more children and adults under the age of 40 than any other form of cancer. However, just one per cent of the national spending on cancer research is allocated to brain tumours.
Emer and others are raising awareness for the condition, in the hopes that people will think to catch it early and hopefully save lives. More information and the national fundraiser can be found on the Brain Tumour Research website.
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