A woman in Michigan who thought she had an ear infection was shocked when doctors discovered her symptoms were caused by a brain tumor.
Annette Courtier, in her 50s and from Lansing, went to doctors complaining of pain in her head and around her ear.
However, scans revealed she had a benign growth on her pituitary gland, a pea-shaped structure at the base of the brain. Doctors said the disease had probably been growing for five years.
Annette Courtier, in her 50s and from Lansing, Michigan, was diagnosed with a brain tumor after thinking she had an ear infection
She underwent surgery to remove the growth and a week later was back doing homework for her university course. Despite the diagnosis, she graduated on time with her year group.
The pituitary gland plays a crucial role in regulating hormones in the body involved in functions such as growth, reproduction and appetite.
Approximately 10,000 Americans are diagnosed with a pituitary brain tumor each year, accounting for 17 percent of all recorded brain tumors.
The vast majority of patients survive; 97 percent live more than five years after their diagnosis.
Ms Courtier lost her sister to stage four cancer in 2019, which took her to a “very dark place” as her sister was “the person closest to me”.
But in 2022, she decided to return to college 35 years after dropping out of high school and enrolled at the University of Michigan-Flint to study digital communications.
However, a week after the course she started experiencing pain in her head, which led to the diagnosis.
Most pituitary tumors are removed using transsphenoidal surgery, in which doctors insert an endoscope and specialized surgical instruments into the nose and through the sphenoid sinus (an area behind the nose) to access the gland.
They then cut out the tumor completely or in parts.
After her operation, Ms Courtier said: “Having brain surgery, recovering from brain surgery, going back to work. All those things.
‘I don’t think I would have done anything differently.
‘I didn’t give myself time to think about it because it wasn’t necessary.’
The above shows how Ms Courtier had surgery on the brain tumor, which is normally removed via devices inserted through the nose to access the tumor
She added: ‘A brain tumor doesn’t stop your life. Your life is what you make of your life, and that’s what I did.
“Brain surgery, working full time, going to school full time, losing a hundred pounds in six months: it’s been quite a year.
“I’m a completely different person than when I started the program.”
Symptoms of a pituitary tumor include weight loss, headaches, excessive sweating, and changes in appetite.