A woman discovered that she had a brain tumour after she started producing breast milk despite not being pregnant.
“I was really upset by this news; my husband James and I had got married the previous year and we were trying for a baby.”“I was due to be having surgery to remove the tumour but my pregnancy meant that the operation had to be put on hold,” she said. She said: “When I got to hospital, they discovered the tumour had ruptured and, on 16 May, I was transferred to Royal Stoke University Hospital for emergency surgery. They removed as much of the tumour as possible, through my nasal cavity.
“It was a huge blow being told that we wouldn’t have any more children. James and I always wanted to have a big family.”She said: “Having been told that I was unlikely to fall pregnant again, we were thrilled to be expecting our second child. Once again, I was closely monitored throughout but I had a healthy pregnancy and Freddie was born on 9 April 2010, without any complications”.
"By 2013, however, the tumour had grown to the point that it was impacting healthy brain tissue and encasing my carotid artery. “Thankfully, I recovered well from surgery and in 2016, I was told I was a candidate for gamma knife treatment at National Centre for Stereotactic Radiosurgery in Sheffield,” she said.“What I wasn’t prepared for, however, was the horrendous experience of having a metal frame fitted to my head, in preparation for the treatment.
“I hated wearing the mask, as it was so claustrophobic but I knew it was necessary to ensure the radiation was accurately targeting the tumour. The plus side has been that I got to keep my mask and I now use it as a prop in lessons when I’m teaching GCSE physics!”