Student Alice Walker, from Allestree, Derby, was taken by her father to optician, Phillip Bradley, for a regular check-up after battling nausea and severe headaches for months.
After specialists had studied her retina, the light-sensitive nerve layer at the back of her eye, they were stunned at their discovery.
A routine eye test carried out at her local
opticians showed that one of Alice's retinas was completely swollen and
the 'wrong shape' because of a tumour
Within hours, she was in the Royal Derby Hospital, where she was diagnosed with a rare type of tumour which had grown to the size of a small egg and had been pressing on her brain.
Alice said: 'I’d been feeling ill for about six months and had been to the doctors about four or five times.
'I had an eye test in April and everything was normal. But when my dad took me back in October, it was a very different story - we know something was wrong and I was told my retina was swollen.
'Instead of it being concave it was convex and my central vision had become poor.
'I was told that I would be referred. The next day, I was in hospital.'
Alice, who had felt ill with headaches and
nausea for six months before her diagnosis, underwent a four-hour
operation to remove 98 per cent of the tumour, which could have become
life-threatening if left untreated
Her father Robert, 51, who runs a garden centre with wife Karen, 46, said: 'Alice was so young but she coped well.
'When we talked to the consultant, he said she could have [died] at any time.
'This shows why it is a good idea, whatever age, to have a regular eye test.'
The 19-year-old faced a gruelling four-hour operation to remove the tumour.
Alice (pictured in hospital) discovered that her
headaches had been caused by the position of the tumour. It had been
pressing on the tubes that drain fluid from her brain
Four days later, she travelled to Nottingham’s Queen’s Medical Centre, for intricate brain surgery.
Robert said: 'It was a really worrying time for everyone.
Post-operation: Alice and her parents later found out that the tumour was non-cancerous
'The position of the tumour meant it had been pressing on the tubes that drain fluid from the brain. Pressure had been building up and that’s why it had affected Alice’s retina and it can be fatal.'
Alice’s news shocked her family, who rallied round to support her and try to pull her through.
But as doctors were unable to predict just how much of the tumour needed to be removed, there was a great risk that it could be cancerous and further treatment may be essential.
Robert said: 'Alice was brave.The tumour was in the ventricle cavity and was attached to the brain.
'It was unclear just how much could be removed without upsetting anything.
'At the same time, we knew it was Alice’s only hope.
'Alice had been feeling quite unwell for the best part of last year.
'She’d had headaches and episodes of sickness. She was pale and tired and was generally just not herself.'
Alice’s mother, Karen, 46, followed their daughter to the Nottingham hospital and stayed with her until the early hours.
She said: 'We kept ringing the hospital to find out if she was out of the operating theatre. People die on the operating table - it happens.
'But finally, we got the news that she was in recovery and she was all right. We were told that the tumour had to be tested and we’d have to wait a week for the results. It was another anxious time.
Mother Karen (left) said doctors told her that
there was a chance the tumour might start to grow again. But she is
optimistic because Alice's growth wasn't cancerous or fast-growing
'After the op, we were told that 98 per cent of the tumour had been removed. Some of it had been attached to the brain and had been impossible to get out.
'The surgeon didn’t want to damage Alice’s brain and decided to leave it in there.There was a chance, we were told, that it might start to grow again.
'But it wasn’t cancer and it wasn’t a fast-growing thing.'
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