A woman who travelled to Turkey for a dental check-up was taken to hospital for an emergency 13-hour operation in which doctors found she had a lethal brain tumour.
Lisa Robinson, 44, went alone to the resort city of Antalya on the Southern coast last month, for a routine consultation relating to cosmetic procedures.
However, after she lost her balance and began acting like she was "drunk", her dentist advised her to find urgent medical help, and she was rushed to hospital nearby.
At first, doctors at the clinic thought she was "possessed", because her brown eyes turned "blue" and rolled to one side of her head.
Yet when she did an MRI scan, they located Glioblastoma - an aggressive brain tumour the size of a "clenched fist".
The mother-of-two was then taken for critical 13-hour surgery, and was given just a 25 per cent chance of survival.
She pulled through after surgeons halted a bleed on her brain, and got rid of most of the growth.
Whilst Lisa felt "elated" after waking up, she was then given a £55,000 bill from her health insurer, Axa Partners, who refused to fund her treatment.
She returned to the UK on Wednesday, and was told by doctors that she had stage four untreatable cancer, which had spread to other parts of her brain.
Lisa said: “I just feel so frustrated. I’m a 44-year-old, and my life has changed in three weeks.
“Initially I thought, ‘This is a bit OTT. Why do I need to go to another hospital for?’
“I definitely didn’t think for one minute that it would be cancer. But last night I was told that the tumour was stage four, untreatable.
She added: “My family had been aware of this also while they were in Turkey, but they were told not to disclose it because it could cause me additional distress.”
Lisa, from Consett, County Durham, had gone to the Magic Smile Turkey clinic on June 24 for a consultation after having a lower teeth veneer procedure in February.
But when she walked into the dentist’s office, she began to act as if she was intoxicated – despite not consuming alcohol.
She said: “I had gone to the clinic. And whilst I was there, I was presenting in an intoxicated state.
“I had no balance, and I was falling back as though I had been drinking alcohol. But I told the doctor I hadn’t.
“They then transported me to the hospital, and when I got there, and had to give them £620 before I was seen."
She added: “At the hospital, I was still presenting as agitated. In fact, the staff now say I was ‘possessed’.
“My eyes were at the side of my head. I’ve got really brown eyes, but apparently at that time, my eyes were blue, and I was vomiting all over the hospital.
Lisa said doctors conducted MRI scans on her head, and discovered that she had a haemorrhage - a bleed on the brain - as well as a 4.5cm x 4.5cm tumour.
And they immediately took her in for surgery, even though she had a very low likelihood of survival.
She said: “I got a blood transfusion and an MRI scan. That identified that I had a big cyst on the brain the size of a clenched first, and I was also haemorrhaging with a lot of blood present.
“Because I had hair extensions in, they had to shave my head, and I then had an operation that lasted 13 hours and I woke up in intensive care.
“Staff came to me and said: ‘You’re very lucky to be alive. We didn’t think you’d pull through. You had a 25 per cent survival rate, and you could have been severely paralyzed.”
Lisa’s partner, Michael Ringer, flew out to her following her operation with her daughter and sister, and she shared a touching moment with him as she lay in hospital.
Lisa said: “I was in intensive care, and I didn't even know who my partner was.
"He was all gowned up and waiting to come in – and then he said, “Are you alright, pet?” And then I knew it was Mic.”
Lisa said she originally felt “elated” after surviving the life-changing ordeal.
But she then found out that she needed to come up with £55,000 (€65,000) after Axa Partners, said she hadn’t “declared her previous medical history” on her insurance forms.
She said: “I wanted to take photos with all the family who had flown over. I was elated. However, the hospital wouldn’t release us until we paid €65,000.
“So we had finance meetings, and we had to put down almost €15,000, [£12,700] and later on another lump sum, and we still owe the rest.
Lisa was flown back to the UK on Wednesday and was immediately taken to the Royal Victoria Infirmary, in Newcastle, where doctors revealed she had stage four cancer.
She said: “They’ve said it’s not treatable, and it’s aggressive stage four – it has spread. However, it can be minimised with treatment plans, chemotherapy or radiotherapy.”
When asked for comment, a spokesperson from An AXA Partners spokesperson said: “We are sorry to hear about Ms Robinson’s illness and are pleased that she is recovering well.
“Whilst we understand that this is a distressing situation, declaring previous medical history is extremely important when purchasing travel insurance, as not doing so can invalidate your policy.
“The initial question that Ms Robinson was asked at the start of the sales process, is there to determine the best policy cover based on any previous medical history.
“Had Ms Robinson declared her previous medical history, she would have been offered an alternative insurance policy that would have better suited her needs and covered her for medical assistance related to this condition whilst abroad.”
