A brain tumour the size of a tennis ball!

In July 2022, I went to Specsavers Opticians in Stamford.

I was having problems seeing my golf ball when I was playing golf.  After about an hour of some very weird tests, the optician advised that there was nothing else he could do and that he needed to make an appointment at Peterborough Hospital for an MRI.

When I arrived at Peterborough Hospital, they guided me to a mobile MRI unit in the car park. Within 10 minutes, they stopped the machine and advised me to go inside the hospital for an MRI on their more advanced scanner.

After this second MRI scan, I met with a specialist who said “It is never easy to hear this kind of news, but you have a tumour in your brain the size of a tennis ball”.

As you can imagine, I had difficulty comprehending what they had just said.  A tennis ball-sized tumour in my head? How is that possible?

I was referred to the Neurology department at Addenbrookes Hospital in Cambridge, who were excellent.  They advised that I had a simple decision; I could have an operation to remove the tumour, or I could not be around in a year.  A simple decision then. I think I’ll have the operation.

A few days later, I underwent 14 hours of surgery to remove the tumour, and within 5 days, I was recuperating at home by the lake at Tallington.