A man who thought he was suffering from vertigo discovered he had a brain tumour after reading about similar experiences on Facebook.
Tom Walker started experiencing dizzy spells, bad headaches and became unsteady on his feet.
Doctors initially blamed an infection to for his symptoms and sent him away with a prescription.
But when the 36-year-old, from Ystrad Mynach, Caerphilly, started having mood swings, he noticed a post from a friend whose daughter was treated for a brain tumour.
When he noticed the symptoms were the same as his, he returned to the doctor and was sent for a scan which revealed the growth at the back of his skull.
The father-of-two has since had surgery to remove it, as well as radiotherapy, with doctors hopeful he will make a full recovery.
Tom Walker, 36, had just returned from a holiday with his family at Euro Disney when his symptoms became worse. A scan revealed the 6cm tumour at the back of his head
‘It started when I was in work and I started to feel really light headed when I got up, especially when I looked up and down and side to side,’ he said.
‘I thought it might have had something to do with my blood pressure.
‘A little while later, I was at home putting the kids to bed and started to feel quite unwell again.
‘I put some music on for the boys – they love listening to the body rockers – and my son said ”shake your head daddy”, so I shook it and I collapsed onto the bed.
‘My wife was out at the time which was frightening.’
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He went to a doctor and was diagnosed with an infection, which was causing the symptoms of vertigo.
But after taking his medication, the dizziness and headaches continued.
Mr Walker said the turning point came after he returned home from a New Year’s Eve trip to Euro Disney.
‘When we got back from Disney, I was lying awake in the middle of the night after suffering from a headache, and I remember reading something on Facebook.
‘A friend of mine’s four-year-old daughter was diagnosed with having a brain tumour and he posted a bit of information about her symptoms on his page.
‘I also read about a colleague who had a brain tumour and posted about it on Facebook too. And then something just twigged.
‘There I was lying in awake in the middle of the night with a headache, thinking that I might actually have a brain tumour.
‘I went straight back to the doctors and asked them to refer me for a scan.’
Surgeons operated to remove the growth from the back of his head, leaving a massive scar. Mr Walker then underwent radiotherapy to ensure none of the tumour remained
After initially diagnosing him with vertigo, Mr Walker’s private neurologist later found swollen disks in his eyes – which is usually a sign of pressure on the brain.
He was sent for another scan, before being told he had a 6cm oblong shaped tumour growing on a fluid cavity at the back of his brain.
‘The technicians phoned me at around 8.30pm on a Friday night, asking me to come in on Saturday morning – so I knew it wasn’t good news,’ he said.
‘My wife and I went to the clinic and the consultant broke the news to us – telling me I’d need to have an operation to have the tumour removed.’
Two weeks after being told he had a brain tumour, he went into theatre at the Heath Hospital to have it removed.
‘The surgeon cut down the back of my neck, went in through the back of my skull and removed the tumour from my brain,’ he said.
‘I was made aware of the risks before going into theatre – the tumour was lightly attached to my brain stem, which transfers messages to the rest of the body. If that was damaged then everything else would stop working.’
Mr Walker’s tumour was successfully removed, but he still had to undergo aprecautionary six week course of radiotherapy at Velindre Hospital.
A recent follow up scan showed no sign of the tumour returning, but he has been warned there is still a possibility that it may return, so it will be closely monitored with regular scans.
He has now posted about his own experience on Facebook, in the hope that other people with similar symptoms will go to the doctors to get checked.
‘If it hadn’t been for others posting about similar experiences on Facebook I wouldn’t have pushed for a scan, and may not be here today,’ he said.
‘My post has had a real positive reaction – I was shocked how many people commented on it and shared it. One person even commented saying they had been having some similar symptoms and would go and get checked.
‘If talking about it means that I can help others, then it really is worthwhile doing.
‘If you or any of your loved ones are putting off going to the doctors for any reason – don’t.
‘The sooner these things are found the better the chances are of beating it. I consider myself to be extremely lucky.’