A woman has shared her story after she was rushed to hospital following a holiday in 'great holiday' Lanzarote.
Mel Kelly lives an active life as a sports coach and karate teacher but started suffering with severe headaches in September. She was given medication by her GP for a sinus infection and migraines.
A subsequent blood test showed high levels of prolactin, which could indicate a brain tumour, but further tests came back normal. Despite the 'relief' of these results the migraines continued to get worse, until she eventually started to lose her vision.
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The 22-year-old told the ECHO: "I honestly thought it was something hormonal because my mum suffers with migraines, so I just thought it was a normal thing. But then as time was going on, it literally wasn't leaving me, this headache.
"It was like a pulsing in my head, like a pressure. I didn't know what to do because no one was listening to me, the doctors weren't listening to me. They just kept passing it off as different things.
"I felt like I was going crazy because I'd read so much online, which people tell you not to, but when medical professionals aren't listening to you, the internet was the only thing that I could rely on and turn to at that moment in time. Then I started to lose my vision."
Mel, from the New Ferry area of Merseyside, consulted with her GP online after this, before flying to Lanzarote for a five day holiday in December. "My eyesight was dreadful at this point, literally like double vision. I had this pain at the very back of my ear, and I didn't know what it was," she added.
Despite what she had been through Mel said she had a 'great holiday' and thought the symptoms could have been due to burnout and that she just needed a break. But this was not the end of Mel's ordeal as her GP sent her to an ophthalmologist.
"They looked at my eyes, and then they called my mum into the room. I knew then that something wasn't right," she said.
The doctor then added: "It's been left too long, you need to go to the hospital now." They then rushed to Arrowe Park Hospital for a CT scan and was kept there overnight.
Mel was then given the shocking diagnosis that she had a brain tumour. She said: "Someone had finally told me why I've been feeling the way out for the past few months. I think the diagnosis is still sinking in now.
"It was a round Christmas time and you don't really think it'd happen to you, you always think it'd happen to someone else, so it was quite a shock. I'm only 22."
Mel was then taken in an ambulance to The Walton Centre, the UK's only specialist neurosciences hospital. Just two days before Christmas and only 72 hours since she had been told she had a brain tumour she was under the knife as a surgeon cut out 95 per cent of the tumour.
"It was crazy to go from one extreme to the other, I'd just come back off my holidays," Mel added.
Christmas Day was the first time she could shower after surgery, but she lacked energy to leave hospital and see her family so had "as nice a time as I could in hospital". Life still isn't back to how it was.
Mel has routine scans along with eye tests every couple of months. She's on high alert, recently going to the hospital because she'd found swelling she thought was sinister. Luckily it's just the way her head is healing around the titanium plates keeping her skull in place on top of her head.
Mel hopes the remaining tumour doesn't grow again, "but there's a zero to 14 per cent chance of it potentially coming back, which is obviously petrifying". She said: "You just have to take the good with the bad. I'm still alive, most of it's gone, so that's the main chunk of positivity I've got to take from it."
She added: "My life took a completely different turn. My friends have just come back off holiday and I haven't been able to go because I can't fly yet. There are just so many downsides to it that have been quite upsetting to be honest."
Brain tumours are the leading cause of cancer deaths among kids and adults under 40, killing 5,300 people each year, according to The Brain Tumour Charity. Just 12 per cent of adults survive for five years after diagnosis, while those who do can be left with lifelong disabilities like blindness.
Mel is being supported by a psychologist and support worker through the Teenage Cancer Trust, and through a Brain Tumour Charity support group for young people, as she adjusts to her new normal. She said: "Even though it's been like three months, it's still gonna be a long road to recovery. I just need to now realise that this is my life."
During Brain Tumour Awareness Month this March, Mel did a 12.5 miles walk from New Brighton to Thurstaston raising £3,694 for the Brain Tumour Charity while also raising awareness that the condition can affect anyone. After struggling to get her symptoms diagnosed, Mel urged others not to stop if they feel something is wrong.
She said: "If you know in yourself that you're not 100 per cent, just keep going back and keep asking the questions. Keep approaching different people and just seeing what they say, because at the end of the day, no one knows your body as best as you do."
Graham Norton, interim CEO at The Brain Tumour Charity, said: "We thank Mel for sharing her story to raise awareness of brain tumours, and wish her all the best with her continued recovery. Raising awareness of the signs and symptoms of brain tumours is a vital aspect of our work.
"Our Better Safe Than Tumour Campaign is making really strong progress but we know there’s still so far to go until everyone affected has a speedy diagnosis, effective treatment and the best possible chance of survival and a good quality of life.
"Over 12,000 people are diagnosed each year with a primary brain tumour, including 500 children and young people – that’s 33 people every day. That is why The Brain Tumour Charity provides specialist support for anyone who needs it, following a diagnosis.
"It’s so important for everyone affected by the disease to know that they are not alone – we're here for you on our Support & Info Line on 0808 800 0004 or via our website - https://www.thebraintumourcharity.org/."
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