When Caroline Smyth began to experience headaches, she booked an appointment with her optician for a check-up, assuming that she simply required a stronger prescription for her glasses.
But that simple appointment helped identify something much more sinister - she had a brain tumour.
The 49-year-old is now speaking out to help raise awareness during during National Eye Health Week and explains how that trip to see her opticians, helped spot the tumour early.
Recalling that trip to the opticians, the Co Down woman said she was aware from her optician's explanation that there was something that required further investigation, but she wasn't prepared for what was to come.
She explained: "My optician detected that I was getting double vision where I was seeing two images rather than one.
“Sharon informed me that this was not a normal finding and that I needed to go Accident & Emergency straight away, she was very persuasive in a professional manner.”
After undergoing a blood test and a CT scan at the Royal Victoria Hospital, it was decided that Caroline needed referral to the ophthalmology department to investigate her double vision further.
She said: “In February 2020 just before Covid hit, I went to the ophthalmology appointment where they told me that in the CT scan something had showed up.
“I remember them saying there was a lesion, I remember asking what’s a lesion?”
Caroline was then told it was a Meningioma, a specific type of brain tumour. A Meningioma is a benign growth that did require further assessment and that they would have to refer her to Neurosurgery.
With Coronavirus now in full force, it wasn’t until March that she had an MRI scan and was informed by her neurosurgeon.
Caroline is hoping to receive positive news in the next few weeks to see if her lesion has decreased in size.
“I was put forward for Radiotherapy and since then I have had 28 sessions in the Cancer Centre in City Hospital, Belfast. I will get my next MRI scan in the next few weeks and they will be able to tell me if there has been any change in the size of the lesion before I started the radiotherapy sessions," she added.
The Newtownards woman is now supporting The Brain Tumour Charity during National Eye Health Week and stresses the need for others to pay attention to their eye health.
While a brain tumour diagnosis is extremely rare following an eye examination, overall eye health will be high on the agenda during the week of September 21-27.
“My first port of call was the opticians as I had read before in magazine article that opticians can detect things such as brain tumours. I am very lucky that Sharon was able to detect some of the signs and refer me straight away.
“It was a surprise that day when I was referred to the accident & emergency, I just thought I needed a stronger pair of glasses.
“I would strongly recommend anyone who is experiencing anything different, where they know something is not right to attend your local optician. I’m glad I did that day," said Caroline.
Lorcan Butler, Optical Engagement Manager for The Brain Tumour Charity, added: “National Eye Health Week is an excellent opportunity for the optical community to engage with the general public and inform them an eye examination is more than just determining whether somebody needs glasses or not.
“It’s also about checking eye health and general health aspects too and we know that approximately 30% of people who have a brain tumour experienced visual changes in the lead up to their diagnosis.
“We hope to support, educate and be there for people like Caroline and to provide information and resources for people to see what they themselves or their partner, children, or parents will likely be going through.”
You can find out more information via the charity's website.
