A mum-of-two has been living with a rare life-changing disorder for thirty years after a shock diagnosis following a trip to the doctor when she grew seven bra sizes.
Linda Ellis, 64, from Norris Green, was an avid squash player when she was younger until she grew seven bra sizes and began to put on weight, making it difficult to stick to her schedule of playing three times a week. Living on a military base at the time with her serving ex-husband, the mum, who was raising a young family, went to the doctor on base to ask for a breast reduction.
Instead, the mum-of-two said she was sent for an x-ray of her head. Linda told the ECHO she "couldn't comprehend why" he had sent her for one, though realised when she was told a "mass" had been discovered on her brain.
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She said: " I was putting weight on and I couldn’t understand. I had a young family to look after. I was working full time, playing squash three times a week.
"To give you an example of how big I went, my bust was always 34B and I was always size 12, and all of a sudden my bust went to a 38FF. They were just getting bigger and my body was getting bigger too.
"My ex-husband was in the armed forces, so we had an armed forces doctor, so I went to him and said 'can you remove these?' It’s no fun playing squash with big boobs, and he sent me for an x-ray.

"I was only 30, I couldn’t comprehend why, when I wanted my boobs reducing, he was sending me for an x-ray on my head. He then told me he found a mass. I didn’t know what a mass was."
Linda was then sent for an operation to remove the mass, which was on her pituitary gland, a part of the brain that produces hormones, controlling things like metabolism and growth. The first operation was aborted over fears of "uncontrolled bleeding."
She added: "The next thing was that I had to go for a full craniotomy [removal of part of the skull to expose the brain] which is through your head. They took a part of my skull off and it's left me with visual impairments and all these pituitary problems, which has led to other problems, including diabetes insipidus."
The second operation was successful but Linda was left with diabetes insipidus, a condition which causes her body to produce up to 20 litres of urine a day if left unmedicated. If medicated, she said she will still produce four to five liters of urine a day, meaning she has had to adjust her whole life around the disorder for the past 34 years.
The condition is caused by her lack of a properly working pituitary gland, meaning her body cannot control a hormone (vassopressin) responsible for regulating body water levels meaning she also has to drink a lot of fluids each day.
She said: " I have to know where the toilets are when I go out at all times. My life revolves around where the toilets are.
"I have to carry an emergency card with me as urine is made up of various compounds urine and sodium is included in that, which is naturally made by the body. If that sodium levels drop, say if I’ve had to urinate so much, my life is at risk - I have to admit myself to hospital."
Linda only knows "three other people" with the condition in Liverpool. She said: "It affects one in every 25,000 people."
Linda said her disease, though not as uncommon as some, isn't well-known. She said it is often mistaken for type one and type two diabetes.
She shared her story with the ECHO to raise her awareness of her condition, and other pituitary conditions which affect 80,000 people in the UK. Pituitary conditions happen when the body (specifically the endocrine system) fails to regulate the correct release of hormones to the body, which in turn regulate important bodily functions.
This month is also Pituitary awareness month. You can learn more about the rare conditions at www.pituitary.org.uk/get-involved/awareness/
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