A mum who thought her swollen eye was caused by hay fever was shocked to find out she had a brain tumour.
Ciaran Morgan, 43, went to her GP in 2020 after she suffered an enlarged and weepy right eye. She suspected it was hay fever and this was confirmed by her doctor.
The mum of two also visited an optician who found no cause for concern. However, the condition worsened as the eye became more swollen and she started suffering itchy skin, achy bones, hair loss, lack of concentration, anxiety and hot sweats.
The funeral director went back to the doctor the following year in October 2021 and an MRI scan found a tennis-ball sized tumour pushing her eye forward. Ciaran said she broke down in tears when she was diagnosed with an intraosseous sphenoid wing meningioma.
She said: "I was devastated and in tears at the news. My mind was racing at how I was going to tell my two children.
“Doctors told me that my tumour was intricate and even though it was behind my eye, it was barely touching my optic nerve which is why I still had my sight. It went from the top of my head, under my eye and was growing in my skull."
After a 10-hour operation, the nan-of-one now has a titanium plate replacing the part of her skull and a reconstructed mesh eye socket. Ciaran from Kingsbridge, Devon, said: "My eye is slowly re-opening, but I have had to learn to see without my peripheral vision and I experience sore and numbness. Since my diagnosis, I find lots of stimulation and being in social situations makes me anxious, whereas before this didn’t.”
Her tumour was so complex medics made a 3D model of her skull to understand how to remove the cancer without causing life-limiting injuries. After two cancelled dates due to staff sickness, in October 2022 she had an op, and she returned to work in March 2023, and is monitored with annual scans.
This month Ciaran has been taking part in 10,000 Steps a Day in August for the charity Brain Tumour Research Ciaran, who lives with constant fatigue, added: “When I was in hospital I was determined to get myself fit and come home.
"Now I am home and returning to some kind of routine, this challenge is a great way for me to do this, whilst raising awareness and funds for research for a historically underfunded disease.”
Mel Tiley, community development manager at Brain Tumour Research, said: “Ciaran’s story is a stark reminder of the indiscriminate nature of brain tumour, which can affect anyone at any time.
"They kill more children and adults under 40 than any other cancer yet just 1% of the national spend on cancer research has been allocated to this devastating disease since records began in 2002."
You can find out more details on Ciaran's fundraising efforts here.
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