Thinking she was depressed, woman went for a check-up and discovered brain cancer

Helen Hannam, 36, lives in England. After returning home from a trip with her husband, Mark Hannam, she suddenly suffered from poor vision. Her vision was visibly blurred, according to The Daily Mirror (UK).

Tưởng mình bị trầm cảm, người phụ nữ đi kiểm tra mới phát hiện ung thư não - Ảnh 1. — Helen Hannam had a brain tumour but was initially misdiagnosed as having depression.

Helen went to see her doctor and was diagnosed with depression and migraines. However, Helen did not think she was depressed. Therefore, she did not take the anti-depressants prescribed by her doctor.

"When Mark and I moved into our new home, I often felt sick in the morning. My co-workers said I might be pregnant. But when I checked, I knew I wasn't," Helen said.

Her condition continued to worsen, eventually causing her to have a seizure and be rushed to the emergency room. At the hospital, her eyes suddenly rolled back and she had two seizures.

After a thorough examination, the doctor discovered a tumor in her brain. The brain tumor was identified as an astrocytic brain tumor, which develops from astrocytes in the brain. The tumor grows rapidly and is classified as brain cancer. It was only after she had a seizure that the doctor discovered the brain tumor. The doctor said that if Helen had continued for another 4-6 weeks, she might not have survived.

In fact, some signs of brain cancer are quite similar to depression, so they are easily misdiagnosed. Doctors can only make an accurate diagnosis after performing specialized tests. Common symptoms of brain tumors include persistent headaches, vision loss, seizures, nausea, vomiting, weakness, and numbness in some parts of the body.

To treat Helen, doctors used powerful steroids to reduce swelling in her brain. A few weeks later, she underwent an 11.5-hour surgery to remove the tumor. Helen then went on to undergo 33 rounds of radiation and five rounds of chemotherapy.

Currently, Ms. Helen has to go to the hospital for regular check-ups to detect early if the tumor recurs.

She is also campaigning for 10,000 signatures for the British brain cancer charity Brain Cancer Research, which aims to increase funding for cancer care, according to The Daily Mirror.

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