Woman received life-changing diagnosis after noticing her eye drooping in her selfie
A woman's life was turned upside down after she noticed her eye drooping in a selfie.
Like most folks do when they are on vacation, Megan Troutwine decided to take a selfie to remember her time in New York.
But after she snapped the picture near Times Square and looked back at it, she noticed something didn't look quite right.
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Megan noticed that one of her eyes appeared to be drooping slightly in the picture, and on top of a series of cognitive problems she had recently had, her mind went into overdrive wondering what it could be.
She booked an appointment with her doctor in 2016, who then went on to refer her to a neurologist for further assessment.
Unfortunately, after going for several tests, it transpired that Megan's gut feeling about her drooping eye had been absolutely right.
Not only that, but it was actually a sign of something very serious.
Following the tests, medics found that Megan had a large tumour on her brain.
Recalling when she first saw her eye dropping, she said: "I'm like, 'oh, that's weird. That picture looks weird.' Little did I know."
Fortunately, the tumour was benign - but aggressive - and doctors were able to treat it by removing it, which was followed by another surgical procedure and 23 rounds of radiotherapy after doctors discovered more growth.
But while carrying out this treatment at Moffitt Cancer Center, medics also found a more dangerous tumour called a glioma, which can lead to brain damage.
Megan said the worst part of it all was dealing with the cognitive issues that resulted.
She told Fox 13 last year: "Dealing with the cognitive issues and dealing with the memory loss and stuff like that, that was probably the hardest, because I know that I'm smarter than that.
"I'm more capable than that. I can do more. But, it's learning how to give myself the grace in the midst, too."
Neuro-Oncologist Dr Sepideh Mokhtari recalled first finding the tumour, saying: "It was very tiny.
"And as we are following it over the years, we are seeing a little bit of increase in size over time."
While it's not a great situation, Megan considers herself lucky regarding her current health.
She added: "A low-grade glioma is like a blessed juxtaposition, I guess you could say, because it's like you're on a cliff, and you know what's going to happen.
"You know it will progress. You will have to do treatment for it. You know it may very well be what could jeopardize your mortality in the future. But, you know, at the same time, you're like waiting for it to do something."
Callum Jones