A woman was told to 'go to hospital now' after returning from her holiday.
Mel Kelly, 22, was living an active life in New Ferry as a self-employed sports coach and karate teacher with a black belt. But in September she started suffering headaches, which her GP tried to treat with medication for a sinus infection and migraines.
A blood test showed high levels of prolactin, which could indicate a brain tumour, but to Mel's relief, a further test came back normal. She 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.
READ MORE: Parents at nursery shut suddenly given 'horrible' update over refunds
"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 assumed it was a side effect of her migraine medication, so did an e-consult with her GP before flying to Lanzarote for a five-day holiday in December. She said: "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."
Mel had a "great holiday" nonetheless, thinking the symptoms were the result of burnout and a sign she needed a break. The alarm bells started ringing in full force when the GP sent Mel to an ophthalmologist. Mel said: "They looked at my eyes, and then they called my mum into the room. I knew then that something wasn't right."
The eye doctor told her "it's been left too long, you need to go to the hospital now". In her mum's car, Mel "shot up to" Arrowe Park Hospital where she had a CT scan and was told she wouldn't be going home that night.
Mel was told 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."
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% of adults survive for five years after diagnosis, while those who do can be left with lifelong disabilities like blindness.
From Arrowe Park, she was blue-lighted across the water to The Walton Centre, the UK's only specialist neurosciences hospital. Two days before Christmas, just 72 hours after her diagnosis, Mel was under a surgeon's knife as they cut out 95% of the tumour.
Mel said: "It was crazy to go from one extreme to the other, I'd just come back off my holidays."
Christmas Day was the first time she could shower after surgery, but she lacked energy to leave hospital and see her family. She had "as nice a time as I could in hospital", where a Santa Claus went around distributing presents.
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% 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."
The keen kayaker loves climbing and "anything outdoorsy", so to be brought from non-stop to a halt, without even the ability to drive for the next six months, is "a bit strange" for Mel. Instead, she knits, does jigsaws and bakes.
She said: "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."
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%, 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/."
Receive newsletters with the latest news, sport and what's on updates from the Liverpool ECHO by signing up here
READ NEXT:
