Tracy Flynn, 51, from Hampshire, thought her headaches and tiredness were menopause symptoms. A routine eye test in May 2024 led to the surprise discovery of a large brain tumour. Following an eight-hour surgery to remove the tumour, Tracy lost hearing in her right ear and now lives with facial palsy and balance issues.
Tracy tells her story…
Life was completely normal for us, a typical family of five: me, my husband Stephen and our three grown up children, Harry, George and Jessica.
I started getting headaches and just assumed I was tired or it was menopause. I even said to Stephen that it would be nice to wake up and not feel lousy.
Looking back, all the clues were there, I just didn’t put them together.
I started experiencing headaches and thought I needed an eye test, so I went with my son Harry to the opticians in May 2024. During the test, I experienced a change in vision. The optician suggested I pay an extra £5 for an OCT (Optical Coherent Tomography) test, and thank goodness I did. He said he could see something behind my eye. I thought it might be an infection. But when he showed me the comparison with my old test, it looked like someone had put black smoke in my eye.
The optician referred me to the eye clinic at Southampton General Hospital. Shortly after I got a call from the hospital asking me to go in for tests the next day. So the next day I went to the hospital with my daughter Jessica. I noticed that I kept jumping the queue and was being called before everyone else, and I thought, this doesn’t look good.
After a lumbar puncture and an MRI scan, the doctor said he wanted to contact neurology.
I just knew something was wrong. I asked if I had a brain tumour. He didn’t say yes or no, but I already knew.
Ten days went by and I thought that no news was good news. I was terribly wrong. While shopping in Whitley Centre with Jessica, I got the call. The neurologist told me I had a large acoustic neuroma. The doctor said that there would be risks to surgery, loss of hearing, sight, taste, smell, balance, facial palsy and I may not walk again.
I was stunned. The only thing I asked was, will I lose my hair? I was too shocked to ask anything else.
When I got home, I cried and told Stephen. I honestly thought I was going to die. That night, I sat with my sister Marie and went through my funeral arrangements, I couldn’t bring myself to tell my husband or children how I felt; it would have devastated them. I even wrote letters to my children in case I didn’t make it.
Because I’m diabetic, my surgery had to be delayed until my blood sugars were stable. The operation took place at Southampton General Hospital on 1 October 2024. The surgeons warned me I’d likely lose my hearing on my right side and I could have facial palsy. I was horrified.
The surgery took eight hours and went well and thankfully the surgeon was able to remove all of the tumour. The recovery was brutal. For the first week I stayed with my sister, who was incredible. She had a ground level shower which was a tremendous help because I was completely immobile. I couldn’t walk or climb stairs. I’ve lost hearing in my right ear which won’t return. I also have facial palsy and can’t feel half my tongue. I now have to drink through a straw, and I’ve had to completely change my diet because my sense of taste has changed.
My balance nerve was removed during the surgery, so I live with vertigo and travel sickness. Even turning in bed can make the room spin. I can’t drive or work anymore, but I focus on recovery and my family.
Immediately after surgery, I had to use a wheelchair, then with physiotherapy I used a frame, then sticks, and now, thankfully, I can walk unaided.
My grandson Marley, who’s 17 months old, keeps me busy. I take him for walks in his buggy and together, we’ll be completing 99 Miles in November for Brain Tumour Research.
If there’s one thing I want people to know, it’s this: please get your eyes tested. Had I not paid that extra £5, I might not be here today. Listen to your body, ask questions, and never dismiss symptoms as “just getting older”.
I’ve been through so much, but I’m still here. I don’t think I’m going to die anymore, I live in hope. I take each day as it comes, and I want to give others that same hope.
Tracy Flynn
October 2025
One in three people in the UK knows someone affected by a brain tumour. This disease is indiscriminate; it can affect anyone at any age. What’s more, brain tumours continue to kill more children and adults under the age of 40 than any other cancer yet, to date, just 1% of the national spend on cancer research has been allocated to this devastating disease since records began in 2002.
Brain Tumour Research is determined to change this.
If you have been inspired by Tracy’s story, you may like to make a donation via www.braintumourresearch.org/donate or leave a gift in your will via www.braintumourresearch.org/legacy
Together we will find a cure.
