Eye test 'saves woman's life' after optician spots brain tumour
A woman has explained how an eye test "saved her life" after her optician spotted a brain tumour during a routine examination.
Katie Everett, 31, a beautician from Romsey, Hampshire, was referred to hospital for an MRI scan after her optician noticed an abnormality in both of her eyes.
Doctors there diagnosed her with meningioma - the most common type of primary brain tumour - in July 2021.
She underwent two operations to have the mass removed in July 2021 and went on to have radiotherapy in November 2022.
The surgery was a success, though not all the tumour could be removed, meaning Everett has to have regular check ups for the next 10 years.
Everett feels grateful she went to the optician when she did as the tumour would have been otherwise undetected.
"I feel like the eye test saved my life and eyesight," she explains. "If it was left any longer, I could have lost my vision completely due to it pressing on my optic nerve."
The type of tumour Katie had is classed a benign as it is slow-growing, however, had it been left undetected it could have caused life-changing or life-limiting problems.
"The thought of that is quite upsetting and shocking," she continues. "It’s hard to believe, I really didn’t think something like this could happen."
The tumour was pressing on Katie’s pituitary gland which caused her menstrual cycles to stop while also severely impacting her vision.
She says it also strangely made colours appear "more vivid".
"I almost needed to wear sunglasses because everything felt brighter," she adds.
Everett has now had two surgeries to remove the tumour and in October 2022 underwent fertility preservation as she hopes to have kids in the future with husband, James Everett, 33.
Following her surgery and fertility preservation she began radiotherapy to prevent the tumour from growing, a measure which is successful in 90% of cases.
"I’ve had some hair loss where the radiotherapy was targeting the mass and my nose and throat are still recovering from the second surgery as they cut away what they could of the tumour via my nose," she says of the side effects.
"Other than that, I feel fortunate to be able to share my story to help raise awareness."
Describing how she coped with the shock news Everett says: "It's made me realise that even when you don’t feel that you’re strong enough to deal with something like this, when it comes to it you somehow find the strength within you."
Mel Tiley, community development manager at Brain Tumour Research, adds: "We’re grateful to Katie for sharing her story with us as well as fundraising an incredible amount and we wish her well with her ongoing scans."
What is meningioma?
According to the Brain Tumour Charity a meningioma is a type of brain tumour that begins in the meninges, the membranes that cover the brain.
These tumours differ in grade and type, but are usually low grade. They are also relatively common with around 27% of all brain tumours diagnosed being meningiomas.
They’re also more common in women than men and are rare in children.
Meningioma symptoms usually begin gradually, as they gently push and compress brain tissue, rather than invading it.
As with many brain tumours symptoms vary depending on he exact part of the brain affected but can include headaches, vision changes and hearing loss.
Meningioma symptoms might include:
Headaches
Change in vision, like partial loss of vision or double vision
Cognitive difficulties like memory loss
Hearing loss or ringing in the ears
Loss of smell
Seizures (epilepsy)
Feeling weak in your limbs
Treatment often depends on the grade and behaviour of the tumour, but can range from active monitoring to surgery and radiotherapy.
Additional reporting SWNS.
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