SOPHIE Peters was feeling frustrated and desperate after suffering crippling headaches for nearly a year, when a chance visit to an optician led to her being diagnosed with a brain tumour.

Sophie, 26, from Eastleigh, believes she would have died had it not been for the visit to Specsavers, where an optician spotted the problem and referred her for an urgent appointment at Southampton General Hospital.

“It was around Christmas time in 2012, when I started to have headaches.

"At first, I didn’t really think anything of it, but after a month or so I went to the doctor who put it down to stress,” she explains.

“The pain seemed to be getting worse and I went back to my GP two or three times a month for the next couple of months.

I was given various tablets, including beta blockers which can help for migraines, but they didn’t work.

“I remember being with my mum one time when the pain was so bad I was screaming because of the pressure I could feel in my head, it was so bad that I wanted to stab myself in the head.

"That sounds extreme but things had got so bad and I was desperate.”

One day, Sophie was shopping in Eastleigh when she noticed Specsavers were offering eye tests.

“Ironically, I was having a good day when, in November 2013 I went into Eastleigh on a shopping trip.

"I walked past Specsavers opticians and there was a man there inviting people for an eye test.

"As they had an appointment straight away I went in.

"I explained that I had been having these headaches and the optician did some tests.

"I was told that my optic nerve appeared to be haemorrhaging and swollen and that I needed to go to the hospital straight away.

“I don’t really know what I thought at that stage but certainly I didn’t really think it was anything serious or even connected to my headaches.

"A friend drove me to the eye unit at Southampton General Hospital and I waited for a couple of hours.

"To be honest, I felt guilty even being there. I felt absolutely fine and there were people around me who were obviously ill.”

The eye checks which Sophie had had at Specsavers were repeated, with the same results and she was admitted to the hospital and taken for a CT scan.

The results showed there was some sort of swelling on her brain but they couldn’t tell what it was.

“I felt like a fraud,” she remembers. “There I was in hospital and I didn’t feel ill at all.

“I was certain that I would be going home soon and that the doctors were being over-cautious although my mum said she thought there must be something wrong.”

Her mum was right, Sophie was diagnosed with a low-grade meningioma brain tumour and she had to undergo surgery to remove it.

“The tumour was the size of a golf ball, but it was removed in its entirety. Although I had initial problems with the sight in one of my eyes this has now been resolved and, thankfully, I have recovered well.

Daily Echo: Sophie post-op.

“I was told that, had my brain tumour been undiagnosed for another month, I would have slipped into a coma and there would have been nothing that could be done for me.

"The neurosurgeon and everyone at Southampton General Hospital were fantastic and I credit the optician with saving my life.”

Now, 18 months after her diagnosis, Sophie still suffers from nightmares as a result of the shock of her diagnosis and surgery but considers herself lucky to be alive.

“So little is known about brain tumours and it is vital that more research takes place. My surgeon told me that no one knows what causes them and it was just bad luck.

“Looking back, this makes me very frustrated,” she says.

“Brain tumours kill more children and adults under the age of 40 than any other cancer … yet just one per cent of the national spend on cancer research is allocated to this devastating disease.

"This is unacceptable!

“As a result of the diagnosis I have suffered with post-traumatic stress disorder and I still have nightmares in which I am back there and I have to tell my mum that it has happened again.

"It is so important that we find out more about brain tumours.

"I don’t want anyone else to go through what I have and would advise anyone who, like me, suffered from severe headaches should persist until they have a diagnosis that they can believe.”

Daily Echo: Sophie (right) and colleagues prepare for their Host for Hope event for Brain.

This Saturday Sophie is organising a Host for Hope fundraising event between 10.30am and 5pm at the Woodlands Café at Itchen Valley Country Park where she works as a catering assistant.

Visitors will be invited to make donations to the charity, which funds a network of Research Centres of Excellence, including one at the University of Portsmouth.

Sue Farrington Smith, Chief Executive of Brain Tumour Research, said: “Sadly, Sophie’s experience of delayed diagnosis is not that unusual.

“We are extremely grateful for her support in raising vital funds and awareness of brain tumours.

“We are striving to fund a network of seven dedicated research centres whilst challenging the government and larger cancer charities to invest more in brain tumour research in order to help patients like Sophie.

“Help us fund the fight. Together we will fund a cure.”

 

Brain tumours kill more children and adults under the age of 40 than any other cancer yet just 1 per cent of the national spend on cancer research is allocated to this devastating disease.

According to Brain Tumour Research:

  • 16,000 people each year are diagnosed with a brain tumour.
  • Less than 20 per cent of those diagnosed with a brain tumour survive beyond five years compared with an average of 50 per cent across all cancers.
  • 1 in 50 of all people who die under the age of 60 die from a brain tumour.
  • 71 per cent of those that die of a brain tumour are under the age of 75 (compared to 47 per cent for all cancers).
  • Unlike most other cancers, incidences and deaths from brain tumours are increasing.

For more information about the charity and how you can get involved go to braintumourresearch.org/host_for_hope.