A WOMAN from Bude who underwent brain surgery is taking part in a month-long challenge to raise money for Brain Tumour Research to find a cure for the deadly disease.
When 58-year-old grandmother-of-seven, Heather Quinlan kept losing her balance and was struggling with her speech concerned family members, including her brother, Liam, 56, thought she may have suffered a stroke.
Heather had previously called upon Liam to help manage the stairs of her five-bedroom house, as she had forgotten how to walk down them.
Heather, who had a hip replacement years earlier, was going through the menopause and was on treatment for an underactive thyroid. She attended a GP appointment with her brother and the doctor found no evidence of a stroke and made an adjustment to her thyroid medication.
Three years earlier, she had been referred for a scan by her optician but the scan came back clear.
Heather said: “I was dealing with a lot and looking after three of my grandchildren whilst working full time. It was exhausting and quite stressful and I think it’s only now that looking back, I’m sure these issues masked the tumour that was growing on my brain.”
Heather’s extreme tiredness and forgetfulness continued and her cognition was severely affected.
Heather said: “I didn’t realise that I had lost a lot of weight until I was walking around a supermarket in a long winter coat and my jeans fell to the floor. I was confused and hadn’t registered any change to my size until then.”
On May 16, whilst out walking her two Jack Russell cross Chihuahua dogs, Heather felt dizzy and fell to the ground, hitting her head on the pavement. Liam arrived to take her to Stratton Community Hospital Minor Injuries Unit (MIU) where she was referred immediately to North Devon District Hospital. A scan showed she had a mass on her brain and she was blue lighted to Derriford Hospital for emergency surgery.
Surgeons removed a 23cm tumour and she was diagnosed with a low-grade meningioma.
Heather recalls: “When I woke up, doctors were telling me they had removed a tumour from my brain. I just said ‘thank you’, as I didn’t understand why they were telling me that. I thought I was in hospital because I had fallen on my face.”
She spent 10 days back at Stratton Community Hospital for rehabilitation and over the next 12 months moved in with her brother, before moving to a smaller house, where she lives on her own. She now attends annual scans to monitor for any changes on her brain.
During her recovery, Heather took part in different online training courses and used daily beach walks with her dogs, Dotty and Billy, to meet new people and reflect on her diagnosis.
Heather said: “I started to take pictures of the beautiful scenery around me and write stories and captions about them to send to my family, who love receiving them and it’s part of the reason why I signed up to fundraise in the 10,000 Steps a Day in February Challenge for Brain Tumour Research.
“I want to share my story, to raise awareness of the need for better treatments and a greater understanding of the symptoms, which can lead to earlier brain tumour diagnoses.”
To donate to Heather’s 10,000 Steps a Day fundraiser go to www.facebook.com/donate/1340712286369344/
To join the Facebook challenge group, go to www.facebook.com/groups/10000stepsadayinfebruary2022