A young woman who was diagnosed with a brain tumour after a visit to Specsavers thanks the staff who "saved my life".
Ellie Musgrove, 21, started experiencing severe headaches and neck pain after her 21st birthday in January 2022, but she knew it was more than just a hangover. She also could not see properly when plucking her eyebrows, with her vision impaired with black spots and double vision.
After being prescribed antibiotics over the phone from her GP, her symptoms did not improve, so Ellie tried the opticians. Thinking she just needed glasses, she was not expecting to be told she may have a brain tumour - which if spotted a day later could have proved fatal.
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After noticing a swelling of her optic nerve, staff at Specsavers rushed her and her dad, Mike to Salford Royal Hospital and just 12 hours later, she underwent emergency brain surgery to drain excess fluid around her brain. The next day, an MRI scan revealed she had a brain tumour which had caused Addison’s disease - an uncommon disorder that occurs when your body doesn't produce enough of certain hormones.
The support carer, who needs to take steroids for life, said: "I knew my headaches weren't down to being hungover because we celebrated my birthday with a quiet family meal out, nothing crazy. I never get headaches, but these were terrible. I thought I’d just slept funny which was making my neck hurt.
"My life has been turned upside down, but it could have been a lot worse, I keep reminding myself of that. I'm glad I went to Specsavers when I did, I'm grateful to the optician and the doctors for saving my life."
Ellie’s symptoms started just after her 21st birthday on 5th January 2022, when she was experiencing severe headaches along with neck pain. As well as blurred and double vision, she also started to hear "pulsating whooshing heartbeat sounds".
She added: "My headaches and neck pains seemed to be worse in the mornings and evenings but were still in the background throughout the day. My GP suspected I had an ear infection and prescribed antibiotics and Ibuprofen, but my symptoms didn’t improve. I decided to make an appointment to see my optician at Specsavers."
Heaton Park Specsavers optometrist, Aqeel Mahmood said urgent medical intervention was required, adding: "At the time, Ellie made an appointment when she couldn’t get to the bottom of her severe head and neck aches and impaired vision. I noted swelling of the optic nerves in both eyes and this, in conjunction with Ellie’s symptoms, indicated that something was seriously wrong."
After numerous scans and tests that day, Ellie was transferred by ambulance to the neurology department at Salford Royal Hospital. She was diagnosed with hydrocephalus – a build-up of fluid deep within the brain – caused by a brain tumour and required emergency surgery to drain the fluid.
She went from having her eyes tested at 11am to having emergency surgery by 11.30pm. She said: "I am slowly but surely recovering and will now have regular MRI scans to keep check on the tumour.
"The neurosurgeons think it’s a slow growing tumour, that only 1% of people develop, so hopefully I won't need surgery to remove it anytime soon. I may well need further surgery if the fluid builds up again, but at least I know what the symptoms are now.
"My life has been turned upside down, but I, along with my family will be forever grateful to Aqeel and the Specsavers team. If it weren’t for them, I would not be here today, they saved my life. I would also like to thank the medical teams at Manchester Royal and Salford Royal Hospitals - they looked after me so well and were so caring."
Aqeel added: "Ellie’s story shows the importance of looking after your eye health and if you have any major worries then do get checked out by an optician. Had Ellie ignored her symptoms and put off seeing an optician, it could have been a very different outcome."
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