A woman has told how she was diagnosed with a brain tumor after her symptoms were attributed to migraines.
Natalie McKenna-Mounty, from Ramsgate in Kent, suffered severe headaches lasting three days in April 2020, just after Britain entered its first Covid lockdown.
The 47-year-old visited her GP, who said she was probably suffering from migraines.
However, she went to hospital shortly after, unable to speak and with her mouth drooping, believing she had suffered a stroke.
Scans revealed she had glioblastoma, a fast-growing brain tumor.
Natalie McKenna-Mounty, 47, was diagnosed with glioblastoma in 2020 after experiencing what she thought was a stroke
Mrs McKenna-Mounty said: ‘I had a severe headache for about three days and then felt like I had had a stroke.
‘I couldn’t talk and my mouth dropped open.
‘I was taken to hospital, scanned and diagnosed with glioblastoma. Because this all happened during the lockdown, I was on my own when I heard the news.”
After diagnosis, she underwent surgery at King’s College Hospital in London, where 70 percent of her tumor was removed.
Six weeks later, she began a six-week radiotherapy program, followed by a six-month course of chemotherapy.
The tumor was stable for three years afterward.
After she underwent chemotherapy and surgery to remove the tumor, it eventually grew back. Now she is exploring several clinical trials to aid her treatment
However, her health deteriorated in June 2023, when the tumor started growing again.
She had surgery in August to remove her tumor, but surgeons were unable to completely remove the tumor due to its difficult location.
Mrs. McKenna-Mounty does is now considering participating in a clinical trial in hopes of beating the cancer.
About 2,500 people are diagnosed with glioblastoma in the UK each year, while in the US the figure is 12,000.
Headaches, seizures, nausea, drowsiness, vision problems and personality changes are major symptoms. These are caused by the tumor increasing pressure in the skull as it grows.
Surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy are standard treatments.
There may be a life expectancy of just 12 to 18 months from diagnosis of glioblastoma and in many cases it recurs even after treatment, according to The Brain Tumor Charity.
Ms McKenna-Mounty said the recurrence of her tumor has left her unable to work, drive or travel abroad as she quickly loses concentration and becomes tired.
“My life has changed dramatically,” she said.
Since her diagnosis, Ms McKenna-Mounty has required constant support and finds social situations more difficult.
She said: ‘I find it difficult to do all the things I used to do – like going to places that were normal before my illness, like the cinema, the pub or the gym.
‘I find some social situations difficult. I have lost my independence and now have to accept help from other people.’
Mrs McKenna-Mounty (right) and her mother (left) both have Carpe Diem tattooed on their wrists, reminding them to stay positive and live in the moment
However, since the second surgery to remove her tumor, she has learned to “take it easy” and take it easy.
She said: ‘I have had to teach myself how to take my body into account, how to deal with stress – to accept the changes in my life and make them positive and not negative.
“I had to learn to slow down, let the past be in the past and seize the day – Carpe Diem.”
Mrs. McKenna-Mounty said: ‘Brain tumor research is not as well funded as other cancers. A higher profile is needed.
‘There needs to be more treatment options for people like me because right now there is no cure, so I’m making the most of every day.’
Dr. Spencer Watson, principal investigator on The Brain Tumor Charity’s Junior Fellows grant, said: ‘A diagnosis of glioblastoma is the most devastating diagnosis and brain tumors are perhaps the most difficult group of tumors to study and treat.
‘This research gives us a new avenue to explore in the search for new and better treatments – and that’s very exciting.
‘Knowing that scars caused by glioblastoma treatment can help tumor cells survive gives us a new direction to develop new treatments.
‘Understanding the mechanisms and how to exploit them will take time, so we are also looking at ways to improve current treatments as this will more quickly benefit the people who need it most.
‘We’re learning how to take the negative side effects of many effective cancer treatments and leverage them to improve the benefits people can get from their brain tumor treatment.’