A mum whose routine eye test led to a terrifying brain tumour diagnosis when an optician spotted something was wrong has described her ordeal.
Sarah Cardwell, 46, went in for an opticians appointment in November 2018, after suffering with blurred vision.
The mum-of-two, who is working with the charity Brain Tumour Research, is now speaking out about her life-threatening ordeal in aid of National Eye Health Awareness Week.
Sarah, who works at Leeds Beckett University, said she noticed in the summer of 2018 that her vision was blurred - so thought she probably needed new prescription glasses.
"I only wore glasses for driving at the time,” she told Leeds Live.
“I kept telling myself to make an optician’s appointment but with a busy job and two young daughters, life got in the way and I kept putting it off."
Finally, in November that year, Sarah booked an appointment at Specsavers in Guiseley, where an optometrist did a series of tests and tried, to no avail, to see if her sight was improved with various different strengths of corrective lenses.
Sarah was then told she was being referred to eye casualty at the hospital.
Accompanied by her husband, Sarah went to the hospital the same day, where an ophthalmologist took a photo of the back of her eye and carried out a colour-blindness test.
Sarah, who is mum to Lucy, 10 and Ellie, seven, said: “I didn’t get a single one right. He then asked lots of questions about whether I got tired easily and whether I had noticed any other unusual symptoms.
"When I thought about it, I had been prescribed iron tablets for anaemia and had also suffered some sickness and dizziness.
"I had also been to the doctors with severe headaches but I thought they were probably due to being tired and over-stretched with a busy work and home life."
Sarah was referred for an MRI scan that took place on 8 December 2018.
The scan revealed a ‘cyst’ on her brain and she was asked to go back the following day for another MRI.
The following week, Sarah met a neurosurgeon who said he thought the mass was a craniopharyngioma , sitting on her optic nerve. She was advised that the surgeon wanted to operate the following day.
She broke the news to her children that they wouldn’t see their mum for the next couple of days, as she would be in hospital undergoing surgery.
“Luckily, they weren’t fazed at all. I, on the other hand, broke down,” Sarah said. "The thought of possibly not seeing them again was just too much. I didn’t want to go to bed that night and I think I only managed about one hour’s sleep.”
The operation lasted five hours and they went in through the sinus, meaning it was less invasive than conventional brain surgery.
She was discharged on 22 December, in time to spend Christmas with her family.
Sarah said: “The results of my first post-op MRI scan were in February and showed that things were stable.
"My next routine scan was due in December 2019. However, in June, fate stepped in and I woke up one weekend with a tingling sensation in my eye. It felt all too familiar. Deep down I knew the tumour was back but I didn’t want to believe it.”
Devastatingly, Sarah’s instinct was right and doctors confirmed she’d suffered a relapse of her tumour. On 23 July 2019, she underwent a second brain surgery to treat the regrowth.
Sarah said: “The operation seemed to go well and once again I stayed in hospital for five nights. This time, however, after being discharged from hospital, I suffered a cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leak and I contracted meningitis.
"I had to be re-admitted and have two further surgeries to fix the leak, which was a really gruelling experience.”
Sarah is now having annual MRI scans and her tumour remains stable. She’s now sharing her brain tumour experience, to help encourage people to be aware of their eye health and to get checked up if something seems wrong.
She said: “I put off going to the optician for ages. Now, I’m much more aware that a problem with your eyesight might be an indication of something serious.
"With hindsight, I wish I’d gone to Specsavers sooner. I’ve no doubt that that routine check-up saved my life.
“Without my urgent appointment, my brain tumour diagnosis may have come too late and the consequences don’t bear thinking about."
National Eye Health Awareness week takes place from 20 to 26 September and aims to inspire and educate people on the importance of eye health and why they should go for regular sight tests.
Brain Tumour Research funds sustainable research at dedicated centres in the UK. It also campaigns for the Government and the larger cancer charities to invest more in research into brain tumours in order to speed up new treatments for patients and, ultimately, to find a cure.
To make a donation to Brain Tumour Research, click here