A woman's life was saved after a horrific discovery following a routine check-up with her optician.
The 40-year-old had no idea that her life would be turned upside down following the eye-test, booking it in before Christmas in 2020 at Boots, as she thought she might need a new prescription.
A CT scan on New Year's Eve though, gave her a very unexpected surprise.
Caroline Wrixon is a project manager, and found out following a scan at St George's Hospital in London that she indeed didn't need a new prescription, but that she had a Grade 2 atypical meningioma tumour, which can grow rapidly, and has the potential to become cancerous.
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After finding out, she has since said that she 'owes her life' to the 'brilliant' team at St George's, stating: “I’m so grateful to St George’s as they saved my life by acting so quickly.
“The whole team have been brilliant.”
The medical centre has been a brain tumour centre of excellence since 2021, after thorough assessments of the services provided, led by experts.
They measured it against a strict criteria that included clinical practice, training opportunities, patient quality of life, providing clinical trials and the standard of research opportunities.
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Run with colleagues at the Royal Marsden and Royal Surrey County Hospital, only eight other hospitals in the country have this recognition.
Caroline is just one of approximately 16,000 people to be diagnosed with a brain tumour in the UK every year, with over 60,000 people estimated to be living with one today.
There are seven common symptoms of a possible brain tumour, which includes headaches and vision problems, among other symptoms.
During her appointment, despite suspecting nothing at first, Caroline said that she felt like there may have been an issue: “I knew something was wrong by the way the optician was going through my eye test.
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“In the last part of my test he showed me a house on the screen and asked if the path was straight and it was but when he covered one eye, the path became winding," she explained.
The project manager revealed that she was 'overwhelmed' by the revelation after showing 'no symptoms', though she went on to book her life-saving operation at the hospital on 18 January 2021.
“I didn’t have headaches just a slight visual impairment, which I thought was because I needed a new pair of glasses,” she continued.
“This all happened during the second Covid lockdown and the last place anyone wanted to go was to a hospital.
“I had to isolate for 10 days and it was hard for my family as they were unable to see me in person before my surgery.
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“I went in on a Sunday afternoon and had the surgery several hours later,” Caroline said.
Following the operation, she was discharged just four days later and went on a course of radiotherapy. She is under the care of Royal Marsden Hospital, where she undergoes regular checks until she gets the green light.
Caroline reiterated: “Everyone at St George’s was absolutely brilliant.
“My clinical nurse was fantastic and in fact everyone I have met along this journey from my optician to my surgeon have been good.
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“It makes you realise how incredible the NHS is and it is the reason I am alive,” she concluded.
Managing Director at St George’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Kate Slemeck, was incredibly proud of the team and their efforts to save Caroline's life.
“I am delighted our expert and dedicated team saved Caroline’s life," she began to say.
“We are immensely proud to be a brain tumour centre of excellence and it’s thanks to the hard work of our experienced teams who provide outstanding care to all our patients.”
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, contact Macmillan’s Cancer Support Line on 0808 808 00 00, 8am–8pm seven days a week.
Joshua Nair