'I thought my headaches were normal - but there was something the size of an orange in my head'
Share:
A woman who received "scary news" after waking up with a severe headache was stunned to find she had a brain tumour "the size of a small orange.". Nikki Bennett, 41, woke up one morning in June last year feeling unwell but blamed it on her recently quitting her job and starting a new role working in a garage.
But on one morning, she was prompted to speak to a medical expert after complaining of a a headache and a new symptom which concerned her. She told the LiverpoolEcho: “It started with a headache in my temple. I’d had it previously, and I hadn’t felt right for a few months but I put it down to hormones.
“I’d quit my job. I was a lone worker and then I changed to working in a garage with people. I thought that would have been an issue. Then I woke up and had a little bit of a baggy eyelid, I went to the doctor and they told me to go to the local hospital.”.
At the start, doctors thought it was a form of arthritis and after some treatment, Nik's pain subsided and she drove back to her home in Abergele, North Wales. However, she returned the next day with a new pain. She said: “I had a bit of an ache in my jaw. They said, ‘have you been to the dentist?’” Nik hadn’t, but both she and her husband Liam were convinced it was nothing to do with her teeth. Eventually Nik had a CT scan, which revealed she had a brain tumour the size of a small orange.
She was quickly referred to hospital where within days of the discovery she was booked in for emergency surgery. It was a grade one tumour, meaning it was not cancerous and is slow growing. Nik was calm when she found out about the tumour but it was still a difficult time for her and Liam. Nik said: “I’d had melanoma before. I knew I needed the facts and went on autopilot whereas Liam needed to throw up.".
