Man diagnosed with life-threatening brain abscess after missing simple infection symptom
Gerrard Kaonga
Featured Image Credit: The Walton Centre
A man needed to have emergency surgery after not realizing a symptom he was experiencing was a sign of a brain abscess.
British man Graham Bell is lucky to be alive, as doctors caught wind of a rather serious health issue by pure chance.
The 61-year-old man from Wirral, in the north west of England, and his wife Sue were heading for a day out when they had to head straight to the hospital instead.
Sue noticed that Graham’s face had ‘fallen on one side’ and he had complained of a severe headache.
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After being rushed to the hospital, a stroke was ruled out but he had to have lifesaving surgery as a ‘mass in his brain was discovered’.
A press release by the Walton Centre NHS Foundation Trust, which is the hospital in Liverpool where he was treated, gave details on just how lucky Graham was.
Investigations into Graham’s symptoms revealed a 3cm abscess in his brain. The first operation to essentially drain the abscess was a success, and Graham began to improve.
Both Sue and Graham praised the hospital and staff for recognizing just how serious the situation was.
Graham said: “It was a lot of information to take in a short time. I had the family around me, but I think we were all in a bit of shock. I was not well, so finding out what was going on quickly was key for all of us.”
Sue added: “By this point Graham had deteriorated greatly. The ambulance brought us to The Walton Centre, and once there I knew it was serious. Graham was prepped for surgery right away. The team was so professional, but it was obvious that speed was of the essence.”
The team also revealed that sepsis had set in and another surgery was needed. They also revealed that the infection come from an infection on a cracked tooth and unfortunately Graham was unaware he even had an issue.
He added: “I was rushed back into surgery to drain the abscess again and they gave me high doses of anti-biotics to help tackle the infection. My clinical team worked to understand what was going on, and found that the infection had actually come from an infection in a cracked tooth I had.
"It was bizarre because I had no pain or swelling in my mouth to tell me there was something wrong."
Graham spent the six weeks recovering at The Walton Centre and while he still has a way to go in improving his health, both he and his wife are happy that the issue was resolved before it caused any more damage.