Harris, who lives in the town of Paignton in the Devon region, felt a constant buzzing and ringing in his ears even though there was no sound in the environment. It did not occur to him for a long time that this complaint, which made his daily life difficult, could be a sign of a serious illness.
According to the Daily Mail, Harris, a retired IT functional analyst, underwent a routine hearing test at the direction of his doctors. In the MRI examinations performed in March 2015, a first-stage “tentorial meningioma” was diagnosed, which is located at the base of the brain, develops slowly and cannot be removed by surgery.
Symptoms that are thought to be innocent can be life-threatening
Although these types of tumors are classified as benign; It can cause many serious problems, from tinnitus to blurred vision, from headache to hearing loss, from decreased sense of smell to difficulty in swallowing. According to experts, these slowly growing masses can become life-threatening by putting pressure on the brain and nerve tissue over time.
Describing what she experienced as a “terrible ordeal”, Harris expressed the process with the following words:
“I had tinnitus for years. Doctors sent me for a hearing test, followed by several treatments and an MRI. Then I was called back for MRIs again and again. I felt like something was wrong, but no one was telling me what it was. When I was referred to a neurosurgeon, my world came crashing down.”
£35k state-of-the-art intervention
In inoperable tentorial meningiomas, radiation treatments and medications are generally applied to control the growth of the tumor. The advanced technology “Gamma Knife” radiosurgery method was preferred for Darren Harris at BMI Thornbury Hospital in Sheffield.
In this method, the tumor is targeted precisely with over 300 radiation beams and the surrounding healthy tissues are protected. Explaining the treatment process, Harris said, “A metal frame was placed to stabilize my skull. The tumor was mapped in three dimensions and targeted extremely precisely.”
Stating that the cost of the treatment is 35 thousand pounds, Harris emphasized that this cost is covered by private health insurance, but many patients do not have this opportunity.
Treatment completed, difficulties remain
Even though the operation was successful, the fight did not end for Harris. The intense stress he experienced after treatment led to epilepsy, and he was also diagnosed with atrial fibrillation, that is, an irregular heart rhythm. Due to these complications, he had to undergo multiple heart surgeries.
The story of Harris, who still lives today with neurological effects such as visual impairment and tingling on the left side of his body, reveals once again that even seemingly simple symptoms should not be ignored.
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