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By Alyce Collins and Lauren Papadopoulos Green
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Have you ever experienced strange daily symptoms that you can’t quite explain, so you just try to pass them off as normal? Well, that was exactly what I did as a teenager when my problems started.
It started around 2012 when my left arm started randomly spasming one evening. I’ll never forget the moment I accidentally threw my food all over my little brother because my arm jolted so dramatically. I had no idea why it was happening to me, after all, I was only 17 at the time and didn’t have any answers.
It was very confusing as to why my body was suddenly spasming so randomly. I had never had any health problems before, and my parents even thought I was doing it for attention. We were living in Cyprus at the time, and the health system over there is very different to the U.K., so going to the doctor for a checkup wasn’t even a consideration.
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My life centered around my studies, so I just tried to keep my head down and focus on school. Although even that became difficult when the spasms started becoming more frequent, and they started to affect my other arm and both my legs. I remember sitting in class and kicking the person sitting in front of me by accident because a spasm caused my leg to jerk forward. Of course, it wasn’t much of an excuse to say I had no control over my body either.
Around that time, I also started having these bad fainting spells and I would lose sensation in my hands. That wasn’t great whenever I wanted a nice, relaxing bath and was unable to gauge how hot the temperature was when I tested the water. So, a lot of the time, I ended up scalding myself or passing out in the bath after thinking it was perfectly fine.
‘If The Tumor Didn’t Kill Me, The Operation Would’
As the spasms started to escalate, it was harder to ignore them.
Everything changed on my eighteenth birthday in February 2013 when my entire right arm became paralyzed. The spasms were one thing, but this was much harder to explain.
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When I still had no movement in my right arm three days later, it was clear that this wasn’t getting better. My dad took me to a GP in our tiny Cypriot village, but then we ended up going to a private clinic in a much larger town for further assessments. That, in turn, led to me having an MRI scan, which revealed something we never expected.
Anyone who has had an MRI knows how uncomfortable and daunting they are. No one particularly enjoys lying inside the machine, so imagine my discomfort as I lay there for three hours because I kept moving involuntarily, prolonging the scan even more.
When the results finally came back, I couldn’t comprehend what I was told.
At the age of 18, I was diagnosed with a low-grade schwannoma tumor, a rare, slow-growing mass that’s usually benign. In fact, they can exist for years without causing problems, but when symptoms do start, those can include numbness, facial paralysis, muscle weakness or tinnitus.
To be honest, I didn’t truly understand the severity of it at the time because I was young. My parents sheltered me from a lot of it back then too.
Before long, I was scheduled for surgery to remove the brain tumor. The odds weren’t exactly great, as I was told that if the tumor didn’t kill me, the operation would.
Yet, against all odds, the surgery was successful and I was able to make a full recovery.
‘I Was in Complete Shock’
Once I recovered from the surgery in 2013, the plan was to continue monitoring my health with regular MRI scans. As they were able to remove the tumor, I hoped I was over the worst of it.
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In September 2022, I had what I believed was my final MRI before I could finally be signed off. Unfortunately, when I went to get the results in January 2023, my world was turned upside down.
The consultant asked how I had been and wanted to check how I was feeling. That seemed odd at first, but nothing prepared me for what she was about to say.
“The results show that your tumor has grown back.”
Everything changed with that one sentence. She was quite cold when she said it, and not very empathetic.
I had been monitored for 10 years and exhibited no symptoms since the surgery. I was in complete shock.
My first tumor gave me a five percent chance of surviving, and yet I made a full recovery against the odds. What were the chances of that happening again?
So now at this stage, I am still being monitored and it’s a case of wait and see if the tumor grows or changes.
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'I Never Expected This For My Life'
All things considered, I’m doing very well currently.
When I was diagnosed with my second tumor, my health and wellbeing took a massive nosedive and I was at my absolute lowest. It took a lot of therapy and hard work to become mentally myself again.
Before my first diagnosis, the last time I’d been in hospital was the day I was born. I didn’t know anything about brain tumors or the medical world, and was then suddenly thrown into the deep end. I never expected this for my life, but without it I wouldn’t be me.
If it wasn’t for my first tumor, I would never have moved back to England. I would never have gone to university or had the experiences I did in my twenties. With my current diagnosis, I would never have left the corporate world and started working in social media as I now do.
When I was 18 and first diagnosed, I didn’t know anything about tumors or anyone who had one. I had nowhere to turn and no one I could relate to. So, I recently started my TikTok account (@laurenpapagreen) to be the person that 18-year-old Lauren needed, and I continue to use my voice for those who need support and to raise awareness.
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I’m now a strong advocate for listening to your body, and if something doesn’t feel right, seek advice.
With my current tumor, they didn’t want to scan me again for two years after it was discovered, but I refused to accept that. I could have died 10 years before because of the same tumor, and I was not willing to risk getting to that point again. So, I didn’t take no for an answer and continued to advocate for extra scans and luckily, I did as it showed my tumor was actively growing.
Lauren Papadopoulos Green, 31, resides in Surrey, U.K., and is a vocal advocate for brain tumor research following her schwannoma diagnosis. She documents her experience on social media (@laurenpapagreen on TikTok and @itslaurenpapagreen on Instagram) to raise awareness and educate others on the realities of living with a brain tumor.
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Charlotte Nisbet and Emma Lee-Sang
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