A mum has revealed how she was given the devastating diagnosis of a brain tumour only five weeks after giving birth.
Lauren Champion, 31, first knew something was wrong in October 2021 while she was heavily pregnant with her third child.
Lauren said: “I had weird feelings of confusion, loss of muscle control down my right side, and loss of my peripheral vision in my right eye. I just thought I was tired from having a new-born baby and slightly stressed from having a busy lifestyle.”
Lauren, mum to Otto, four months, Margot, three, and Mischa, 10, booked an appointment with her GP for neurological checks and was referred to Royal Derby Hospital in October 2021.
However a month later in November, five weeks after giving birth to Otto, she suffered a tonic-clonic seizure.
A tonic-clonic seizure is where the person loses consciousness, their body goes stiff and they fall to the floor with their limbs jerking.
After being taken to A&E it was revealed Lauren's seizure had been a side effect of a tumour, according to Derbyshire Live.
Lauren, from Duffield, Derbyshire, said: “At the hospital, I felt back to normal and didn’t remember the seizure. But I had a CT scan which revealed a lesion on my brain.
“I thought ‘this sort of thing doesn’t happen to me’ and that we hadn’t planned for it in our lives.”
Lauren had brain surgery at Queen’s Medical Centre (QMC) in Nottingham on 16 December. The surgeon was able to remove most of the tumour but left some because it was growing around a major blood vessel.
She said: “The operation went really well, and I was discharged the next day. I was out running two weeks later. Unfortunately the histology came back with the worst results possible. A stage 3 hemangiopericytoma. A rare and aggressive malignant tumour.”
A passionate runner, Lauren isn’t letting this diagnosis rule her life. Acknowledging that after her recent diagnosis along with pregnancy, she has lost a whole lot of leg strength and fitness, Lauren has decided to train for this year’s Derby 10k.
Lauren said: “I continue to do a daily core/weights workout and I’m back out running again which feels truly amazing. I’m hoping to complete the 10k race in under 60 minutes, even better if it’s under 57:44 which was my finish time 7 years ago.”
“I feel more determined than ever to build my strength and fitness up and truly believe it will help to get me through some of the difficult times ahead.
“It’s massively changed my life, so I wanted to do something I love for a charity that means so much to me. There is such a lack of research into this devastating disease and more needs to be done to spot the early symptoms.”
Brain Tumour Research funds sustainable research at dedicated centres in the UK. It also campaigns for the Government and the larger cancer charities to invest more in research into brain tumours in order to speed up new treatments for patients and, ultimately, to find a cure.
To donate to Lauren’s GoFundMe page, click here.
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