I thought swollen eye was hay fever – but was devastated when I learned truth
A gran who thought her swollen eye was caused by hay fever was shocked when she found out the real truth.
Ciaran Morgan, 43, suffered an enlarged and weepy right eye and her suspicions of hay fever were confirmed by her GP.
The grandmother-of-one also visited an optician who found no cause for concern.
READ MORE: Biggest hay fever myths busted as 51% of Brits suffer from it outside of summer
But her eye became more swollen and she started suffering itchy skin, achy bones, hair loss, lack of concentration, anxiety and hot sweats.
The funeral director sought help from the same GP and was finally given an MRI scan.
She was stunned when they found a tennis-ball sized tumour pushing her eye forward.
After a 10-hour operation, Ciaran now has a titanium plate replacing the part of her skull and a reconstructed mesh eye socket.
Ciaran from Kingsbridge, Devon, said: “I told the doctor everything that had been going on and got very emotional and she then asked what was wrong with my eye.
“I was devastated and in tears at the news. My mind was racing at how I was going to tell my two children.
“Doctors told me that my tumour was intricate and even though it was behind my eye, it was barely touching my optic nerve which is why I still had my sight.
"It went from the top of my head, under my eye and was growing in my skull.
“My eye is slowly re-opening, but I have had to learn to see without my peripheral vision and I experience sore and numbness.
"Since my diagnosis, I find lots of stimulation and being in social situations makes me anxious, whereas before this didn’t.”
Ciaran started suffering with the hay fever symptoms and visited her GP in summer 2020.
She went back to the doctor with additional symptoms in October 2021, and was later diagnosed with an intraosseous sphenoid wing meningioma.
Her tumour was so complex medics made a 3D model of her skull to understand how to remove the cancer without causing life-limiting injuries.
After two cancelled dates due to staff sickness, in October 2022 she had an op, and she returned to work in March 2023, and is monitored with annual scans.
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This month Ciaran has been taking part in 10,000 Steps a Day in August for the charity Brain Tumour Research.
Ciaran, who lives with constant fatigue, added: “When I was in hospital I was determined to get myself fit and come home.
"Now I am home and returning to some kind of routine, this challenge is a great way for me to do this, whilst raising awareness and funds for research for a historically underfunded disease.”
Mel Tiley, community development manager at Brain Tumour Research, said: “Ciaran’s story is a stark reminder of the indiscriminate nature of brain tumour, which can affect anyone at any time.
"They kill more children and adults under 40 than any other cancer yet just 1% of the national spend on cancer research has been allocated to this devastating disease since records began in 2002."
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