WHEN Harriet Annabelle Ward started feeling dizzy and tired at times, she put it down to stress.
The 51-year-old mum had even been examined once in hospital years earlier, but medics found nothing suspicious.
Harriet Annabelle Ward put her dizziness and tiredness down to stress[/caption]
Scan of Harriet’s brain (tumour on the left-hand side)[/caption]
Harriet with daughters Amaryllis and Islah[/caption]
Two years later, her health declined dramatically leaving her struggling to put together sentences when speaking and with a bloodshot eye.
She was rushed into hospital, where an MRI scan uncovered a 7cm brain tumour growing across the left side of her head.
Harriet, a singer from Bristol, said: “If untreated, they said I would have died in my sleep.
“I was in shock, but I was very focused on what they were going to do and hoping it would all go well.”
Harriet was diagnosed with a grade two Meningioma brain tumour, and her husband, Christopher, was told she had just a week to live.
The only way to save her life, doctors said, would be emergency surgery to remove the growth.
Harriet’s three children – Amaryllis, Islah and Noah – were aged five, 10 and 15 at the time, and the mum was terrified that she might not live to see them grow up.
She said: “The doctors weren’t sure I’d make it.
“Before they put me to sleep, I said to one of them, ‘I’d love to see my children again’.”
Luckily, her wish was granted, and she woke up from the 14-hour surgery to find out it had been a success.
The mum was left with a heavily swollen left side of her face from the bruising and trauma to the area.
Harriet said: “I never took photos until a few weeks post-op as I was black and blue.
“I looked swollen where they cut from ear to ear.
“I was in shock.”
Since the operation in November 2021, Harriet had “very intense” radiotherapy treatment for six months, and has since been slowly recovering at home with her family.
She said of her ordeal: “I was dying to see my children – they visited me in hospital and I was desperately wanting to be at home with them.
She had emergency surgery to remove the growth[/caption]
The mum experienced post op swelling[/caption]
Harriet with her husband Christopher and children Amaryllis, Islah and Noah[/caption]
“I felt they would be lost without me, so I knew I needed to get through this.
“The doctors felt radiotherapy was necessary as it was such a huge tumour, and hopefully won’t regrow.
“It’s been a hell of a journey but every day it’s incredible to be here with my family.
“You really do love more for today after going through something like this.”
The near-miss inspired her to record a music album, together with 22 other artists, to help raise money for Southmead Hospital, where she was treated.
She added: “My music keeps me happy, healthy and is very healing.”
Harriet’s face mask is used to keep her head still during treatment[/caption]
The mum seen ringing the treatment bell[/caption]
The most common symptoms of a brain tumour
More than 12,000 Brits are diagnosed with a primary brain tumour every year — of which around half are cancerous — with 5,300 losing their lives.
The disease is the most deadly cancer in children and adults aged under 40, according to the Brain Tumour Charity.
Brain tumours reduce life expectancies by an average of 27 years, with just 12 per cent of adults surviving five years after diagnosis.
There are two main types, with non-cancerous benign tumours growing more slowly and being less likely to return after treatment.
Cancerous malignant brain tumours can either start in the brain or spread there from elsewhere in the body and are more likely to return.
Brain tumours can cause headaches, seizures, nausea, vomiting and memory problems, according to the NHS.
They can also lead to changes in personality weakness or paralysis on one side of the problem and problems with speech or vision.
The nine most common symptoms are:
- Headaches
- Seizures
- Feeling sick
- Being sick
- Memory problems
- Change in personality
- Weakness or paralysis on one side of the body
- Vision problems
- Speech problems
If you are suffering any of these symptoms, particularly a headache that feels different from the ones you normally get, you should visit your GP.
Source: NHS
