I was diagnosed with a large Vestibular Schwannoma brain tumour in September 2023. I’d had many years of symptoms including numbness of my face, balance issues and vertigo. For almost 3 years I went to doctors, yet my symptoms were ignored and I was told it was mental health related. It was my dentist who finally sent me for a scan.
When I was diagnosed and heard the words benign, I felt relief, as my husband and I have four young children and I needed to be around for them.
I had surgery to remove the tumour in April 2024, and after 14 hours on the operating table my husband received the call to tell him the surgery went well… Less than one hour later he got another call saying I hadn’t woken up and was going straight for a scan.
What they found then was a huge clot pressing on my brain stem. It totally blindsided everyone, even the professionals. They actually ended up getting a few neurosurgeons from London involved too. I think there were 5 in total. “It’s a very rare case” they said.
I was told I would be deaf, and off balance for a few weeks, but nothing like the damage to my brain that this had caused.
After four weeks of being ventilated, 3 months in hospital and many tests later, I went home – in a wheelchair.
The enormity of it all actually didn’t hit me until after my surgery… I’m naturally a very positive person and I was always really proactive, then I woke up like this.
Before my surgery I was VERY active- often found running marathons or hiking in the Lake District. Now I am unable to walk (yet) and have many issues.
Whilst I am out of the wheelchair and now able to live upstairs, I have been left blind in one eye, deaf in one ear, ataxic (constant shaking), unable to walk at all outside, no temperature or pain control down my left side and I have severe facial palsy meaning I look and sound very different.
Life can be hard at times but, whilst benign isn’t fine, I am so pleased I am still here to tell the tale.
My children and husband have been fantastic throughout it all, and I certainly wouldn’t be where I am today without them. They have definitely kept me going. They are my biggest cheerleaders and have never doubted me.
I am enjoying the slower pace of life with two main aims for 2025: to walk again and to gain my driving license back!
By Laura Earl
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