An appointment with an optometrist, according to a man with brain cancer, saved his life.
With the age of 32, UK native Matt Voice, 40, a former mechanic, suffered from headaches and vertigo for seven years.
Voice started crumbling unpredictably in April 2020, his migraines were worse, and “black orbs” clouded his eyesight. During one incident, he had to stop driving because he felt dizzy and his eyesight was fuzzy.
“I began having seizures, and my eyesight would sometimes get dim. My kids, Mason, 11, and Darcy, 15, were horrified to see that “He told SWNS, a UK news organisation.
Doctors, according to the speaker, believed that his blood pressure issues were what was causing his blackouts and eyesight alterations.
However, when his vision deteriorated, Voice requested an appointment with an optician, which was almost cancelled at the time owing to COVID constraints.
He said, “But I pushed to leave.
The eye specialist discovered warning signals that he could have a tumour or a brain bleed during the visit.
Gliomas stress on the brain and result in symptoms like vomiting.
The eye specialist recommended Voice to a nearby hospital’s eye clinic, where in May 2020 he was diagnosed with an astrocytoma, a kind of brain cancer that develops from the cells that cover the nerve cells in the brain.
Voice stated, “I was informed it was on both sides of my head and that it would grow aggressive.
Gliomas, a kind of brain cancer, include astrocytes. Gliomas make up to 33% of brain malignancies, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine. According to the American Cancer Society, there is a fewer than 1% probability that someone in the US would ever acquire a malignant tumour of the brain or spinal cord.
Gliomas irritate the brain or spinal cord, which results in symptoms. The most typical signs, which may develop gradually and subtly, are speech difficulties, personality changes, weakness in the arms, face, or legs, and headaches. According to Johns Hopkins Medicine, they may also result in nausea, vomiting, blurred vision, and dizziness.
I’m simply pleased I went to the eye doctor at that time; else, I doubt I’d be here for my kids, remarked a voice.
Surgery was performed on Voice to remove a tumour that was the size of a fist.
70% of Voice’s right-side tumour was surgically removed in July 2020. After six weeks of intense radiation, he had three rounds of chemotherapy until his body could no longer withstand it in January 2021.
He said, “I lost all my hair, and I noticed the kids were looking at me differently.”
Voice’s illness has been managed, but because to his short-term memory loss and mobility issues, he is no longer able to work as a mechanic. He now uses a stair lift and lives with his mother, a part-time nurse, and they have two children.
In order to determine if his tumour has grown, he is awaiting the results of an MRI scan.
Each time, “I just have to hope it hasn’t,” he added.