William Morgan
A pregnant woman said her physician 'laughed off' her symptoms and cancer concerns - only to discover to her horror that she was living with a giant brain tumor.
Tamara Bright told her doctor that she had been experiencing crippling headaches and a loss of balance since 2015, but was told that she might be dehydrated, suffering from a B12 deficiency, or just experiencing side effects from her contraception.
At just 31, the British property conveyancer's vision in her right eye started to blur and she began to lose hearing in her ear on the same side of her head, sparking concerns that something was majorly wrong.
Despite her GP blaming her issues on minor medical issues, in June 2023, Tamara decided to see an optician and audiologist to find out what was going on.
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An MRI was ordered - and it revealed the terrifying cause of her unusual symptoms.
The scan revealed that she had been living with a benign tumor in her brain for over 10 years, well pre-dating her difficulties flagging her health concerns to her physician.
It emerged that this tumor, measuring around 1.5 inches, had caused many of her issues and threatened her life.
As well as pressing on her brain stem, this benign growth was putting pressure on the back of her eyes, triggering her blurry vision.
Armed with this new medical information, Tamara underwent two surgeries to tackle the issue in August 2023 and March 2024, with doctors accessing her brain through her ear in order to remove the tumor in pieces.
Three months after this last operation, she underwent radiosurgery, where medics use targeted beams of radiation to destroy any remaining tumorous cells in her brain.
While these medical interventions worked to remove the growth, Tamara sadly developed Bell's palsy as a consequence of the procedures and lost the ability to control the right side of her face, as well as her ability to smile.
Having gone through the harrowing experience of a doctor denying her unusual symptoms, Tamara is now speaking out to encourage others to 'keep pushing' their physicians for answers.
She said: "I was going to the doctors for years, as long as I can remember, but they just kept saying that the symptoms weren't anything serious.
"I couldn't walk in a straight line. I used to have to look at the floor to look at a line to pretty much walk straight.
"My eye started going blurry. That was one main sign that the GP was wrong and something was happening. I used to see little black dots, they looked like little worms."
This worrying symptom prompted Tamara to take her health into her own hands and speak to specialists.
Tamara continued: "He [the audiologist] was one of the first people who took it seriously and that there was something definitely not right.
"He said for someone of my age and otherwise healthy, if you're starting to lose your hearing, there's an issue. There's something causing it.
"When he first told me he said, 'you don't have a huge brain tumor, you have a gigantic brain tumor'. Those were his words that I'll never forget.
"I'd been telling people for years and years that something was wrong.
"To get that acknowledgment that you're right, there is something wrong and there's something we can do is huge."
One element of her misdiagnosis that Tamara cannot understand is that her mother, Amanda Bright, had died from a cancerous brain tumor before she had even turned 40 - but her doctor still did not connect the dots.
Tamara said: "They knew my mom's background and never looked into it really.
"I even said to my doctor, could it be that [a brain tumor like her mom had]? And I was laughed off and told I was overthinking it."
In a heartwarming development after many difficult years, 31-year-old Tamara is now expecting with a baby boy with partner Jordan Pell, due to arrive later this month.
But due to her pregnancy, Tamara has avoided seeking treatment for her Bell's palsy. Something she hopes to rectify once she has welcomed her little one into the world.
She went on to say: "It's definitely been really hard to deal with.
"You don't want to come across as though that's what you care about but it does make a huge difference. You don't want people to look at you and know that something's wrong as well.
"I get a lot of people asking me if I've had a stroke. I can't do a normal smile and obviously it affects my speech as well, which is getting better.
"It's affected my confidence loads. It's quite hard-hitting when you look in the mirror and it's not what you're not used to seeing back.
"My partner's been great. Not once have I felt unattractive to him but it's just my personal confidence."
Due to her struggle, she is calling on other people to champion their own health.
Tamara said: "You know your body better than anyone else does. So if you have a strong feeling, and know that something's wrong and the doctors are telling you there isn't, keep pushing."