A mother from Bolton, England, has shared a harrowing account of her unexpected diagnosis with a benign brain tumour, which she initially dismissed as simply a problem with her sight. Shelley Whittaker, 47, began experiencing blurred vision in November 2024 while applying mascara, leading her to remark idly to herself that she was “going blind”. However, her light-hearted comment masked a far more serious health issue.
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Whittaker first noticed something was amiss when her left eye felt as though it had a viscous substance in it. “It felt like I had something in it, like if you had a bit of cream or oily substance in your eye,” she described. The blurred vision intensified when she tried to focus solely on her left eye, prompting concern that something might be wrong.
At first, she downplayed the symptoms, believing they to be minor and saying to herself, “I just laughed it off for a couple of months.” However, her worsening vision urged her to consult an optician. While initial tests appeared inconclusive, further investigations, including an MRI scan, revealed the distressing truth: she was suffering from a spheno-orbital meningioma, a rare tumour located behind her left eye.
The benign tumour measured approximately 1.6 inches in diameter and was pressing against her optic nerve. “It was a complete shock and it didn’t sink in at first,” Whittaker recalled of the moment she received the diagnosis. Given her deteriorating condition, she reflects on how pivotal it was that she did not delay her appointments. “If I’d have left it a month longer — two months longer — I could potentially have been blinded in my left eye,” she added.
In September 2025, Whittaker underwent a demanding ten-hour surgery to remove the tumour. Surgeons managed to extract around 90% of the mass, given its proximity to critical optic structures. “I had quite a bulging eye at one point just before surgery. It was the tumour putting a lot of pressure on the optic nerve,” she explained, revealing the physical toll the condition had taken on her.
Following her surgery, Whittaker noted an improvement in her vision, with only slight patches of blurriness remaining. Despite her progress, she remains vigilant; if the tumour were to return, she would require radiotherapy as a potential treatment option. “Since surgery, this blurred vision has become a lot better. If it does return and start to grow, then radiotherapy would be the treatment for me,” she stated.
However, the experience was made more unsettling by her neurologist’s comments about a potential link between her benign tumour and her long-term use of hormonal birth control injections. Whittaker had been receiving these injections for 15 years and reflected on her doctor’s warning to cease immediately. “When I went to see him in June [2025], he said, ‘You need to stop it immediately and that there are links,’ ” she recalled. She expressed dismay, saying, “It’s quite scary… I would never have carried on taking that injection if I’d been made aware this is what they could have done to me.”
Whittaker has taken it upon herself to raise awareness about the potential risks associated with hormonal contraceptives. “It needs to be out there that there are risks,” she asserted, emphasising that more information could help others make informed decisions about their health. While she did not specify the exact injection she had been using, her experiences highlight the importance of patient education in managing health risks associated with long-term medication use.
According to information from the National Institutes of Health, there is a low, but present, risk of developing meningioma while using hormonal contraceptives. Whittaker’s story serves as a potent reminder of the necessity for individuals to be proactive in seeking medical advice and addressing new or troubling symptoms without delay.