Woman says doctors mistook brain tumor for heatstroke

By Ed Chatterton

A young farmer was diagnosed with a life-threatening brain tumor following a holiday to Turkey - after her symptoms were dismissed as heatstroke.

Moli Morgan, 22, went to Antalya for a sunshine break with her boyfriend but suffered two seizures the night before she was due to fly home.

Turkish doctors told her it was probably down to heatstroke after spending too much time in the 30c sun during their week-long trip.

She returned to the UK the following day and went to Royal Shrewsbury Hospital after being advised to by her sister, who is a nurse, and underwent a CT and MRI scan.

Moli was left stunned to be told she had a life-threatening 4cm glioma on the left side of her head despite feeling "pretty much completely fine."

She was transferred to a specialist neurology center at Royal Stoke University Hospital, where it was decided the mass would be removed by an awake craniotomy.

During the operation, Moli had to repeat words back in both Welsh in English to make sure the surgery didn't impact her ability to speak her first language, which is Welsh.

The four hour long procedure on December 9 last year proved a success and Moli is now back helping out on the family farm in Llanerfyl, in Powys, Wales.

Doctors described her recovery as "incredible" and Moli said she is "back to normal" six months on and has now thanked the medics who saved her life.

Moli said: "It was obviously very scary and you expect the worst when you're told you have a brain tumor.

"I had no real warning signs before or during the holiday, I had never suffered any symptoms before.

"I have only ever had a migraine but didn’t think anything of it at the time. Everything seemed to happen quickly."

Moli booked the holiday with her boyfriend Ollie Higgins, 22, a mechanic, who she has been going out with for six years, in October last year.

She added "We'd had a lovely week there, it was really relaxed and there was a water park at the hotel which was great. It was hot but not unbearable, around 28-30c.

"I felt absolutely fine and there were no warning signs for what was about to come the day before we were due to fly home.

"I'd had trouble sleeping but felt OK apart from that and then I suffered a seizure at around 1am in the morning following by a second one about 20 minutes later.

"My boyfriend called the medics and they had a doctor on site at the hotel who told me it was probably just heatstroke.

"We had been in the sun all day and I hadn't drunk much water, so I sort of thought nothing more of it and that is was probably just heatstroke, and we flew home the next evening.

"One of my three sisters is a nurse and she suggested we got to hospital to check it out just to be on the safe side.

"We went to Shrewsbury Hospital and had an MRI scan and got the results back the same day.

"They had found I had a 4cm brain tumor on the left side and I just couldn't believe it, as I had no other real symptoms and felt completely fine.

"I do get a couple of migraines a year, but obviously that can be normal. It just came as such a massive shock.

"You just sort of try and deal with it, I think my parents and sisters were more worried. I stayed in hospital for 4-5 days having anti-seizure tablets before I was allowed home."

Moli was later transferred to Royal Stoke where she met with Dr. Erminia Albanese, a consultant neurologist and her team, to discuss her options.

Moli added: "My surgeon explained that the procedure I needed would involve me being awake.

"I didn't even really think about it, I just thought do whatever you need to do.

"While I was awake I had to have a translator there to make sure I was repeating words back in Welsh and English correctly.

"There was like this Powerpoint presentation with basic things like animals and food on them - and I had to repeat the words back.

"There was a couple of times I didn't get it right, so they knew that was the part affecting my language and not to interfere there.

"It's mind-blowing what they can do really.

"I remember parts of it but the operation was around four hours and I don't remember it all.

"I had around 28 staples in my head and stayed in for a couple of days before I was allowed to go home.

"The operation was on December 9, and then I had a follow up scan which found the tumor was benign and non-cancerous which was obviously great news.

"I've had two follow up MRI scans and after my next one they will start doing them every six months, so I'm still being monitored but everything has been positive since."

The hospital said it was vital Moli had an interpreter with her so she could talk throughout the surgery and the team could do all the checks to ensure she didn’t lose the ability to speak Welsh after the operation.

Dr. Erminia Albanese said: "It was important we had our interpreter, Ben, with us during the operation.

"He would say a word in English and Moli had to reply in Welsh to ensure she could speak both Welsh and English after the tumor was removed.

“It was amazing to see Moli and her Mom, her recovery has been incredible, and it’s great to see her doing well after the surgery.”

Moli and her mom, Carol, have now presented a cheque for $345 to Ward 228 and members of the UHNM Charity team, which was raised through a carol singing night organized by The Wales Federation of Young Farmers.

Carol said: “It’s so nice to be back here to see and thank everyone for their care.

"We have lots of memories of being here and our outcome has been very good."

The NHS says symptoms of a brain tumor vary depending on the exact part of the brain affected.

Common symptoms include headaches, seizures, persistently feeling sick, vomiting and drowsiness, mental or behavioral changes - such as memory problems or changes in personality - progressive weakness or paralysis on one side of the body, and vision or speech problems.

The NHS advises to see a GP if you have these types of symptoms, particularly if you have a headache that feels different from the type of headache you usually get, or if headaches are getting worse.