'My pregnancy headaches turned out to be a brain tumour'
A new mum was left shocked after discovering her "pregnancy headaches" were actually a brain tumour.
Dominique Nicholson's newborn baby was only three weeks only when her mum was given the devastating news that the severe headaches she'd dismissed as being a side effect of pregnancy, were actually down to a grade two atypical meningioma brain tumour.
The 32-year-old from Leicester underwent surgery to have 95% of the mass removed just weeks after giving birth and heartbreakingly wrote goodbye letters to her daughters, Erin, now two, and Freya, now six.
The mum-of-two was left numb by the diagnosis, terrified at the thought that she may never seen her two daughters grow up.
But after undergoing craniotomy surgery in July 2019, she is now in recovery and has yearly checks.
Read more: 'Brain tumour surgery wiped my childhood memories'
“I had headaches when I was pregnant with my first daughter, Freya," explains Nicholson, a licensing conveyance.
“So when I had headaches with Erin, I wasn’t concerned, I assumed it was a mix of the stress of having a young child, working, being generally tired and pregnant.
“I mentioned my headaches to my midwife, but she agreed there was no cause for concern and I assumed once I had given birth they would ease.”
However, after Nicholson welcomed her second daughter, the headaches continued to get worse.
The lowest point came three weeks after Erin was born when Nicholson was emptying the dishwasher.
“As I bent down, the pressure behind my eyes became so intense I fell to the floor in agony," she says.
When her husband David, 31, returned home, he rushed Nicholson straight to the hospital where she was sent for a CT scan.
“I expected to be told it was severe migraines," she continues.
“When the doctor explained it was a mass on the brain, I was in shock and very scared.
“My first thought was my girls.
“I had to see my daughters grow up."
Before undergoing craniotomy surgery to remove all but a small percentage of the tumour, Nicholson wrote goodbye letters to her daughters.
“I needed to put things in place, so I wrote letters, arranged Godparents and thought about things to help David if something went wrong in surgery," she explains.
"My biggest fear was not waking up.”
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Nicholson believes it was her maternal inner strength that got her through the operation, which went without complication allowing the mum-of-two to return home to her family soon afterwards.
A post-surgery biopsy revealed it was a grade two atypical meningioma.
“I was diagnosed, operated on and home within seven days," Nicholson continues.
“There was a bit left attached to a blood vessel that was too dangerous to move but as I was breastfeeding Erin, doctors knew that my recovery would be quicker at home."
Nicholson was left with a 21cm scar across her forehead and down the righthand side of her face, which she says was "mentally hard to come to terms with".
“The scar was so much bigger than I expected," she says, explaining how she tried to hide it from her eldest daughter with headscarves.
"I saw a counsellor as it was a lot to deal with," she continues.
“I spent a long time hiding inside when my face was at its worst, but gradually I made little outings to regain my confidence."
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Nicholson is sharing her story to raise awareness of the symptoms of brain tumours.
“I want to warn everyone, but especially mums and expectant mums not to put their own health last," she says.
“You know your own body and what is normal and if something isn’t right, push for answers.
“My headaches were ongoing, I felt sick and I was forgetting things.
“If that sounds like you, please go to your doctor.”
Read more: Brain tumour signs and symptoms
Nicholson is also undertaking a series of challenges, including completing two Olympic Triathlon distances, to help fundraise for charity.
“The Brain Tumour Charity is incredible and I just want to get as much awareness out as possible," she says.
“I am running 130 miles to represent the 130 types of brain tumours that exist.
“I am very lucky to have been treated so quickly and I don’t like to think about what could have happened if I didn’t.
"I consider myself to be so lucky and I am grateful to be alive."
Additional reporting Caters.
