Faith Speakes

While I was asleep, recovering from the hen, my fiancé Luke found me having a seizure in bed and when I came around, I was horrified to see paramedics in our bedroom leaning over me. My memory goes hazy here but I remember going to hospital for a CT scan and Luke and I decided not to contact family until we had a clearer idea of what was happening. When they told us they’d found a mass on my brain, we knew it was time to start phoning around. Consultants were confident that whatever it was, it wasn’t cancer but due to the size of it, they wanted to operate. 

Thankfully, we were able to schedule my operation for after our big day and I distracted myself with the wedding which took place on Saturday 12 May. It was a beautiful day and although all our guests knew about my situation, we were able to enjoy ourselves and not worry about what was to come. 

Help Fund the Fight

I had an endovascular embolisation (to treat abnormal blood vessels in my brain) a few weeks later which terrified me as I’d never been put under before. However, when it came to my operation on 13 June, I told myself: “If I don’t make it through this surgery, I at least want to go in happy.”

It was confirmed that I had a meningioma brain tumour but the operation went as well as could be and I started a course of steroids but didn’t need any radiotherapy or chemo.

Recovery seemed to go smoothly the week after surgery and I even felt well enough to attend a friend’s wedding. When Luke and I got back to our hotel room that night, however, I had a painful sensation in my arms and legs and eventually went numb. It was a seizure and I had to stay in hospital for five days after that. It seemed weddings were bad luck for me!

For now, we’re looking forward to going on honeymoon and, provided my scan in September is all-clear, we’re going to start a family. My diagnosis was a blip in the road but for now I’m concentrating on enjoying our happily ever after.