Woman’s ‘menopause’ hot flushes and tingling were 10 brain tumours

A mother attributed her hot flushes and ‘tingling sensation’ to the menopause – until scans uncovered she had 10 brain tumours. Kerry Brown, 54, started experiencing hot flushes and ‘tingling sensations’ in 2017 that she presumed were hormonal and connected to the menopause.

However, the mum-of-one’s symptoms soon progressed to severe fatigue and slurred speech over a two-year period. When her eyesight started to deteriorate, she visited an optician and was referred for an MRI scan after they detected swelling behind her eye.

The scan disclosed four brain tumours that necessitated surgical removal in July 2019. Yet, during that procedure, doctors discovered 10 tumours altogether – five of which were extracted while the remaining ones were placed under active surveillance.

She has continued to intermittently suffer seizures and lost sight in one eye in the years that followed, owing to one of the tumours compressing her optic nerve. At a recent follow-up consultation, Kerry was informed two of the tumours had begun to re-grow and she is undergoing radiotherapy as a consequence.

Kerry, a production manager from Hull, said: “Looking back, the first signs were hot flushes and a warm, tingling sensation that would pass through my body. I thought it was just the menopause, but then I’d go pale, start slurring my words and feel overwhelmingly tired. I didn’t think it was anything serious.

“I was having these episodes for a couple of years. Then I noticed what felt like a thumbprint over the vision in my right eye.”

It emerged that the ‘hot flushes’ Kerry had attributed to menopause were in fact seizures. A Specsavers optician referred Kerry to hospital after noticing swelling behind her eye. An MRI scan was conducted and a few days later, she received an urgent call to return to the hospital.

She recalled: “I remember walking in and seeing pictures of brains on the wall and thinking ‘this can’t be good’. The consultant asked whether I’d been having headaches and if I could walk upstairs, before explaining they had identified four brain tumours. I was completely stunned. My partner, Gary, was with me and thankfully he stayed calm.”

Although the tumours were low-grade, two of them were larger than two centimetres and required surgical removal.

Kerry said: “When I woke up after the surgery, they told me they hadn’t found four tumours – they’d found 10. I remember joking ‘every time I speak to you, you find more’ – but inside, I was terrified.

“I spent about five days in hospital and the tumours were confirmed as meningiomas – the most common form of adult primary brain tumour. I continued to have seizures and was placed on steroids and anti-seizure medication.

“One of the biggest impacts was on my sight because the tumour at the front of my head had been pressing on my optic nerve. They hoped that removing it would release the pressure, but it didn’t. The nerve continued to die, and I’m now blind in my right eye. I had to go through the DVLA process again just to be allowed to drive with one eye.”

Kerry is currently raising funds for Brain Tumour Research to increase awareness of the disease and underscore the lack of funding for research.

She said: “Knowing how underfunded research into brain tumours is, and having experienced this first-hand, really motivated me. I know what it’s like to go through this. I’ve lived it. If sharing my story helps raise awareness or helps someone else feel less alone, then it’s worth it.”

Ashley McWilliams, community development manager at Brain Tumour Research, said: “Kerry’s experience highlights how symptoms of a brain tumour can be mistaken for more common conditions, leading to delays in diagnosis. Stories like Kerry’s remind us why this work is so urgently needed.”