Sophie Fields was driving home from the shops when she heard a strange humming noise.
Pulling over as she thought something was wrong with the car, she suddenly had a seizure at the wheel.
Sophie had never experienced anything like that before and she had no idea that this was the first sign of the brain tumour growing in her head.
It wasn’t until four months later that she received the diagnosis and was told she needed urgent brain surgery.
Although doctors weren’t able to remove it all, she was told it wasn’t cancerous and they would monitor the remaining bit of the tumour.
Sadly, as she started to move on with her life, Sophie’s headaches returned again and was told her tumour was growing.
Further surgery and another biopsy revealed that this time the tumour was cancerous.
The 25-year-old, from Brighton, Sussex, started treatment just before lockdown and has faced going through it all in her own home.
She explains: ‘I was having headaches but thought nothing of it because lots of people get persistent headaches. When I had the seizure, I thought I had epilepsy and obviously that is more worrying, but I didn’t think I might have a brain tumour.
‘Now I’m dealing with it for a second time and unfortunately, it is cancerous. Dealing with treatment during the pandemic has been hard but I am over halfway through now and I can see the endpoint.’
Back in April 2016, Sophie was in her car when she heard a loud noise.
Realising it was unusual, she pulled over and within 10 seconds, she had her first seizure.
When she came round, she called an ambulance and was taken to Royal Sussex County Hospital, where they said that sometimes seizures can ‘just happen’.
She’d also been having persistent headaches but didn’t think it was anything serious.
But a month later, she had another seizure, followed by another one a few weeks later and she was finally referred to see a neurologist. Sophie suspected she might have epilepsy but didn’t think about cancer.
Symptoms of a brain tumour
The symptoms of a brain tumour vary depending on the exact part of the brain affected.
Common symptoms include:
- headaches, which can be dull and constant, or throbbing
- seizures (fits)
- persistently feeling sick (nausea), being sick (vomiting) and drowsiness
- mental or behavioural changes, such as memory problems or changes in personality
- progressive weakness or paralysis on one side of the body
- vision or speech problems
NHS
An MRI scan showed that Sophie had a grade II astrocytoma, which was around the size of a peach.
She says: ‘Within six days, I was having surgery to remove the tumour. It was pretty big and they needed to remove as much as they could.
‘It was only safe to remove about 50% of it but a biopsy showed that it wasn’t cancerous so I thought I’d be able to move on with my life.’
Sophie had to have chemotherapy and radiotherapy to try to shrink the remaining tumour but unfortunately, that wasn’t successful.
Doctors told her she would need regular scans and the tumour would have to be monitored.
By last year, Sophie felt she was finally getting her life back on track after being ill, even though some of the tumour remained.
She explains: ‘I was moving on – I’d just got my licence back and could drive again and it was great.’
But then she started to suffer mini seizures and realised something was getting worse.
She adds: ‘I was feeling really disoriented and felt like a seizure was going to happen, though I never had a full convulsing seizure like I’d had before.
‘I went to hospital but they didn’t see much growth and thought it was ok. It was when I had my check up in December that they realised it had started growing again.
‘My heart just sunk.’
After discussing her treatment options with her team, Sophie decided to have more surgery to try to remove the tumour but due to problems with the operating theatre and then a chest infection, she couldn’t have the operation until 12 March.
The surgeons were able to remove more of the tumour than last time and amazingly, after the surgery, she was able to leave hospital within five days.
The tumour was biopsied again and two weeks later, Sophie was given the shocking news that this time, it was cancerous.
She says: ‘It was a huge shock. I was just thinking it would be like it was before.’
Sophie’s release from hospital came just as coronavirus restrictions started to be introduced in the UK and she has had to go through treatment throughout the pandemic.
She says: ‘It was scary knowing that I had cancer and there was a chance chemotherapy could be cancelled. It was this huge added layer of stress.‘
She’s been taking oral chemotherapy and a family friend who works as a nurse has been able to come and do blood tests so she doesn’t have to go to hospital unless it is necessary.
Now halfway through treatment, things are looking more positive for Sophie.
She adds: ‘At my last scan, everything is starting to become more stable. I have another scan next month and we’re waiting to see if it’s shrunk.
‘I’ve been really lucky that the chemotherapy that I’ve had has fewer symptoms than before. I’ve had hair loss, felt really sick and tired but I haven’t been bed-bound like I was before.’
Throughout her journey, Sophie has been fundraising for Cancer Research UK, including competing in the ultra ballroom competition, as she was a competitive dancer when she was younger.
She adds: ‘I did that all through my chemotherapy and it really kept me going. I had something positive to look forward to each week.
‘I was training for a 10K to raise money for them as well but that’s currently on hold but raising money for Cancer Research UK has been really important to me.’
COVID-19 put Cancer Research UK’s life-saving research on pause. To help the charity get back on track to continue its vital work visit cruk.org/give.
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