A former Warrington beauty pageant queen says an eye test at Specsavers revealed she had a brain tumor, although her family doctor attributed her severe headache and vision loss to her birth control pills.
Holly Worswick, 22, thought her migraines were due to not drinking enough water, but had to see a doctor after sporadic vision loss.
She claims her family doctor blamed the pill for the episodes.
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It was only during a regular check-up at Specsavers in February that opticians “saved their lives” when they told her to go to the emergency room immediately after discovering that the optic nerve in her right eye was “four times” its normal size.
Tests including CT and MRI scans revealed the terrible news that Holly had a benign brain tumor – which had triggered her symptoms by causing pressure and fluid buildup behind her eyes.
The grapefruit-sized mass had grown both below and above her skull for a decade, and if left untreated it could have caused blindness and even death.
Holly underwent a grueling eight-hour operation in which doctors successfully extracted the meningioma tumor by severing the anterior right quarter of her skull, removing the mass, and then reattaching the bone.
Holly underwent a grueling eight-hour operation
(Image: Kennedy News and Media)
Terrifying photos show the aspiring teacher having a visibly large dent in her head after surgeons were forced to operate again to remove the infected piece of skull and insert a drain into her spine to remove fluid from her nose and head.
A metal replacement was then installed late last month (July 20), signaling the end of the frightening five-month “roller coaster” that left her in fear for her life.
The 22 year old, who represented Cheshire as Miss Cheshire International at Miss International UK 2018, is now sharing her story to urge people to attend their routine eye appointments and get examined when they feel like something not true.
Holly said, “I’ve had a lot of headaches and I always thought it was because I wasn’t drinking enough [water]but then I started getting really bad blurred vision.
“I would drive a car and my eyesight would just go away. I thought, ‘this is not normal,’ so I went to the doctors and they just thought it had something to do with the pill I was taking.
“I’m not a doctor so I don’t know what they could have done, but they didn’t even bother with what, to be honest, is a bit ridiculous.
“Fortunately, I was supposed to check out at Specsavers a few days later, and when they took pictures of the fundus of my eye, they found that the optic nerves were four times the size they should be.
“The optician gave me a letter and said I have to go to the emergency room now and get a CT and MRI scan. Later in the day they told me about the crowd.
“The surgeon said it has been growing for 10 years. 1-2 mm per year, like a ticking time bomb. So it would have just kept growing if the opticians hadn’t recognized it. We even gave them flowers afterwards.
“This routine check-up at Spescavers saved my life. Without her, I would not have found the tumor, which shows the importance of not missing your eye appointment.
“If you keep getting headaches that are so bad that you can’t do anything, you need to have it checked. Better to play it safe.”
(Image: Kennedy News and Media)
Holly, who lives in Macclesfield with mother Helen Bailey, 50, and stepfather Nick Bailey, 57, had laser eye surgery as a 21st birthday present and her February 13th appointment with the town’s specsavers was a regular check-up.
She rushed to Macclesfield General Hospital after her optical coherence tomography (OCT) got the opticians and her CT and MRI scans revealed a fatal brain tumor later that day
The Edge Hill University graduate was transferred to Salford Royal Hospital the next morning and successfully operated on on February 16, before being allowed to go home after a week.
A month later, Holly, having recovered mentally and physically from watching TV and solving puzzles, felt fluid spurt from her nose and was hospitalized again.
There was a visibly large dent on the side of her head
(Image: Kennedy News and Media)
Another CT scan on March 15 showed an infection of the skull bone, so the next day the surgeons removed the flap and then placed a lumbar drainage at the base of her spine on March 18 to remove the excess fluid.
She was then sent home with intravenous antibiotics (IV) and a protective headgear that was used to cover the exposed wound, creating a “huge dent” in her head.
An allergic reaction to the antibiotics left her with a “hives-like” rash on her legs and neck five weeks later, but on a final operation on July 20, the surgeons inserted a metal plate to fill the gap in her skull.
Holly said, “It’s been a roller coaster ride for five months, but I’m so happy to be here now.
“When the optician told me to go to A&E, I was shocked, but at that point I wasn’t worried, which sounds a little crazy. You just assume that everything will be fine.
“I thought it wasn’t going to be serious. I’m going to need antibiotics and I’ll be fine, but it definitely wasn’t.
“I wasn’t aware of the gravity of the matter, even when they told me they’d found a mass. They said I could get my mom to A&E (because of Covid) and that’s when I realized how serious it was getting.
“I didn’t sleep much at all. I was really stressed. It was a waiting game and that stressed me out even more.
“My parents were really in a panic. Even more than I, because they understood the gravity of the matter. I’m glad the surgeon didn’t go into more detail than he had to because I would have been even more concerned.
“The moment I went to bed to lie down for the first operation, I had the greatest fear in my entire life.
“It dawned on me that maybe I was no longer alive or that something could go wrong. I could be permanently damaged and not get my life back. I could have gone blind. “
Holly says she could have lost her sight
(Image: Kennedy News and Media)
Holly’s last stitches were removed on August 5th, and she has since enjoyed the opportunity to drive and return to the gym to regain physical fitness.
Next month she hopes to be able to play soccer again and complete her PGCE teacher qualification which she had to postpone during an operation.
Giles Edmonds, Director Clinical Services at Specsavers, said, “Cases like Holly’s show how important regular eye exams are to people – and how important it is to keep track of their appointments.
“Many people often think that a visit to the optician will only detect changes in vision, but the reality is that an eye exam can detect so much more than this, including signs of very serious health problems.
“That’s why it’s important that everyone has their eyes checked at least every two years, regardless of whether they have a problem with their eyesight or not.
“In addition to our standard eye health exams, we also offer OCT (optical coherence tomography) scans, which can help identify visual disturbances earlier.
“It only takes a few seconds, and it allows us to look at eye health in much greater detail, as it uses light to take over 1,000 images to create a 3D image that reveals the inner layers and structures of the eye’s essential device and we would recommend that it be part of every eye exam. “
