'I thought my eye twitch was just stress - I actually had a rare brain tumour'
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A mum who dismissed her twitching eye as 'college stress' has been left unable to smile after a rare brain tumour was discovered. Jade-Marie Clark first began experiencing what she thought was an ear infection while pregnant with her first baby Theo in March 2020. But after giving birth to him she claims her ear pain began to subside and became more manageable. It was only when she fell pregnant for the second time in 2023, that she began experiencing headaches and a 'twitchy eye'.
At the time, the 32-year-old was studying to become a nursery school teacher so put her eye flickers down to 'assessment stress' and believed her headaches were hormone-induced. But when the corner of her lips went numb at nearly three months pregnant, she booked an appointment with her GP in May 2023.
Jade-Marie was immediately sent to Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow, Scotland for an MRI where she was diagnosed with a brain tumour. She then decided to wait until after giving birth to her son Rory in November 2023 to have the growth removed. The mum-of-two has been left with facial palsy, meaning she is unable to smile or produce tears out of her right eye. She is now sharing her story to inform others about her symptoms and the mental implications her facial palsy has had on her.
Jade-Marie, from Glasgow in Scotland, said: "It all started when I was pregnant with my first son. I started getting excruciating pains down my face and ear and I thought I had an ear infection. I was in tears with the pain. This started three months into my pregnancy and it didn't stop. At first it was just my ear and then it went over my face and neck. I had the baby and the pain didn't stop but it was nowhere near as bad as if it was while pregnant. Fast forward to 2023, I fell pregnant with my second baby and then I started getting headaches. I put it down to hormones.
