A woman who thought her face pain was originally due to stress was diagnosed with a rare brain tumor.
Nicola Shaw, 38, had just returned from a dream trip to Antarctica when she began to get a “tingling” on her left page.
At first she lowered her to stress, but she spread to her nose, eye and head and became so intense that she would fall down, tightening her head in the agony.
Nicola went to see a doctor and was told she needed an MRI, which she thought was an “over -reaction”, but she discovered meningioma – a tumor in a rare and dangerous place near her brain stem and left the optic nerve.
It had a 10-hour operation which removed 95% of the tumor, but the tumor then increased by 17 millimeters to six months.
Nicola had a gamma knife radiotherapy, which exactly aimed at radiation to destroy the tumors while saving healthy cells. It took a big fee for it.
Now stable, she has regular scans to monitor her tumor, she is traveling through the Sahara Desert to raise money for brain tumor research.
“I started experiencing tingling on my left page,” said Nicola, a teacher from Manchester.
“At first, I thought it was just stress, but by January 2023, the pain had spread to my nose, eye and head. It was so intense that it would stop me in my footsteps, leaving me clinging to it, tightening my head in the agony.
“A friend urged me to see a doctor, so I went for a consultation and referred to a neurologist.
“At that time, I thought this was an overlap, but I went with him and saw a specialist at a private hospital in Agoikago. When the neurologist suggested I needed a MRI, I was reluctant, thinking it was unnecessary and over the top. Finally, I gave up, never waiting for what would come.
“The scan discovered a meningioma, a tumor in a rare and dangerous place near my brain stem and left the optic nerve.
“I was in denial and I insisted that they had a wrong person, but the truth was visible in scans, and I had to see a neurosurgeon as soon as possible.”
Nicola had returned to her teaching work in October 2022 when she began to experience pain.
After her diagnosis in January 2023, she was told she would need surgery to remove the tumor.
“Fortunately, the father of a student in my class was a neurosurgeon at the hospital I was referring to, and he quickly helped my request,” she said.
“He explained that my tumor was a nine out of ten in terms of the difficulty of removing, and only 2% of the cases are in this country. It didn’t fill me with much hope, but after a second thought, we decided to operate.”
She underwent 10-hour operation in April 2023 at the Northwestern hospital in Agoikago, one of the main institutes of the country’s brain tumor.
The operation was successful, but Nicola fought with double vision, memory loss and jaw pain and tried Botox to try and heal it.
In her three-month scan, she was told that the tumor had grown by six millimeters and had grown by 17 millimeters to six months by October.
Her surgeon had no explanation for growth, but recommended gamma knife radiotherapy, despite concerns about using it for a patient under 50.
Nicola said: “The gamma knife procedure was the worst day of my life.
“I asked as sole soothing as the staff would allow and wait for my fears of needles and narrow spaces tested on their borders.
“They had to get four screws in my head, beating each area with three injections for the screw. The pain was exciting and I shouted and begged them to stop.
“When they reached the fourth screw, they had to avoid my Titan tile and doing so, grabbed my eyelid, making it bleed and give me a black eye and scar.
“Once the frame was lit, I had two hours being completely immobilized, with my drunk head on the table, as the radiation went to work. The relief when they were over was extraordinary, but the pain was unbearable. My head hit where the screws were and the pressure felt ruthless.”
The experience received a large number in Nicola, forcing her to quit her job and return to the UK to focus on her physical and mental healing.
She spent the next nine months healing as she attended a session with a therapist who specialized in supporting patients with cancer. Now, with regular scans to monitor its brain a year after radiotherapy, the tumor is fortunately.
Now it remains determined to make a change and has already raised over $ 7,000 for brain tumor research in preparation for its 50 kilometer charity journey throughout the Sahara Desert on March 27, 2025.
The six-day challenge will see Nicola endure extreme heat, sand dunes and long, harsh days, along with 15 others who have a close personal experience with brain tumors.
“After brain surgery, radiation and countless scans, it may not be worse than I have already passed,” she said.
“I also like to travel and love you a challenge, so this trip seemed perfect for me.
“It makes me angry knowing how much under -financed research is about this disease, especially as someone who has survived a brain tumor. I feel like you or someone you know you have passed it, no one is aware of how dangerous these tumors are, so I am determined to increase consciousness.
“It is killing so many people and those who survive have remained with eternal problems and concerns about their future. I am very proud of how much I have raised so far because we need desperate for a cure for thousands that will not be as lucky as I have been.”
Carol Robertson, manager of national events in Brain Tumor Research, said, “We are very proud of Nicola to get such an extraordinary challenge and we are in fear of her resistance to treating her brain tumor.
“Trekking beyond the Sahara desert is not a small thing, and its determination reflects the courage and consistency we see in so many of our supporters. The stepo step that Nicola takes will help us get closer to our mission to improve results for patients with brain tumor and ultimately find a cure.
To support the challenge Sahara Trek of Nicola and donate to brain tumor research, visit its site just to give.
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