A mum indulging in some retail therapy claims buying new sunglasses for her holiday saved her life - after opticians discovered a grape-sized brain tumour during an eye test. Ann Flinn went for a routine eye test in April ahead of her trip to Benidorm and decided to treat herself to a new pair of sunnies.
But during the test the Specsavers optometrist in Wigan detected swelling on her optic nerve and referred her to hospital for further tests. The 54-year-old was stunned when an MRI scan revealed what doctors suspected to be a meningioma - a non-cancerous tumour in the membranes that cover the brain.
The mum-of-two had surgery a week later (July 29) to remove the tumour and received the good news last month (August 10) that her tumour was benign. Given the admin officer 'felt fine' throughout the ordeal, she's now keen to raise awareness of the importance of not putting off routine eye tests.
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Photos show Ann donning her new shades while on her trip to Spain in June before her surgery to remove the tumour, which left her with a black eye and seven-inch scar across her scalp. Specsavers said that Ann's story highlights why routine eye test are so important.
Ann, of Haydock, Merseyside, said: "It came as a shock to me. I needed new sunglasses for my holiday to Benidorm and needed a test because I'd gone two years [since the last one].
"The eye test potentially saved my life because anything could have happened and if not saved my life, certainly saved my vision. I wouldn't have known [about the tumour] otherwise, because of the swelling I was in danger of having seizures."
Ann said that after her eye test she was referred to the eye clinic at St Helen's Hospital, Merseyside, in early June for a second opinion. There, doctors confirmed her optic nerve was swollen, so scheduled her in for an MRI scan.
Jetsetter Ann, headed to Benidorm for a long weekend on June 16, had the scan on July 22 which detected a tumour in the front of her head above her right eye. Ann said: "I went for an MRI scan and they found a tumour, I had swelling on the brain which was causing swelling on the optic nerve.
"The radiographer said 'I think it's a meningioma but I can't be certain. Either way the consultant has said that you need to go straight to the hospital'. It was just sheer shock but I felt fine as I didn't have any symptoms.
"I saw the pictures and I'd say it was probably the size of a big grape. At that stage they were more concerned about the swelling because that was bigger and spread further over my brain than it should have been for that particular type of tumour."
Just a week after the MRI scan detected the tumour, she had surgery to remove it at The Walton Centre in Liverpool, Merseyside. Ann said: "I was terrified. I'm a very optimistic person and quite a strong female.
"These things didn't faze me at all and at one point I was so zen you would have thought I was on a different planet. It was about three days after surgery that it dawned on me how serious this thing was and what I'd just been through
"I've got a long road of recovery, it's going to take around 12 months for me to get back to normal. But people are quite shocked at how well I look considering the style of surgery I've had and how severe it was. I've pretty much just got on as normal as best as I can."
After a rollercoaster experience, Ann is now keen to raise awareness that eye tests can detect more than a change in vision and the importance of going for routine checks. Ann said: "I was warned that it could be cancerous, because of where it was they were 90% sure that it was the meningioma but there could be a possibility that it's not.
"It came back as benign, which was fabulous news. Don't put these things off. Us women, we do it all the time. I know some of my friends who are my age who are still putting off smear tests and you think 'don't be ridiculous'.
"It's not going to kill you, just go and get it done. Eye tests are not as trivial as people seem to think. They are important."
Specsavers clinical services director, Giles Edmonds, said: "Ann’s story highlights why a routine eye test, every two years, is so important. Many people believe that eye tests are just for people who need – or might need – glasses, but they’re so much more than that. They give insight into your overall general health.
"In rare cases, like Ann’s, they can detect serious health concerns, but they can also detect conditions like type two diabetes, high blood pressure or glaucoma. Incidences like this demonstrates how important an advanced your eye examination is.
"Most of our Specsavers stores offer a service called OCT (Optical Coherence Tomography) that takes a 3D scan of the eye and collects 1,000 images to help our opticians pick up any anomalies in eye health that could lead to early sight loss or more serious, life-threatening conditions like Ann’s.
"So, if haven’t had a test for a while, don’t put it off any longer. Book an appointment at your nearest story by visiting specsavers.co.uk."
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