Matt Carpenter, from Hull, revealed there were multiple red flags which should have prompted him to go back to the doctors after his brain tumour was initially missed
A man who spent eight years with an undiagnosed brain tumour has revealed the warning signs he wishes he had looked out for.
Matthew “Matt” Carpenter, from Hull, was told he had a low-grade glioma brain growth in January 2018 and that he needed urgent surgery following a seizure at work – despite doctors missing his tumour following a CT scan in 2010. The dad-of-two has revealed there were multiple red flags which should have prompted him to go back to the doctors after his brain tumour was initially missed. However, he believed his symptoms were down to stress and working too much. “It’s safe to say I can probably tell you a few of the signs and symptoms of a brain tumour,” he said in a TikTok. “My brain tumour didn’t really give me any symptoms that I could notice until 2012-2013,’ he explained. “And that was in the way of my speech going funny. Every now and again I would slur my words – when I’m sober – I would forget how to say certain words or would forget what I’m saying mid-sentence.”
Despite having a brain tumour, he revealed during the eight years it was left unnoticed he did not have a single headache. “In the eight years my brain tumour was left unnoticed – obviously getting bigger and bigger and bigger – I never once had a headache, not even with a hangover”, he admitted.
However, it wasn’t until a few years before he noticed another red flag – this time a change in his emotions and mental wellbeing. “My emotional responses and mental health went quite skewwhiff,” he said. But he puts this down to working in a ‘high pressure environment’ with the Hull Homeless Community Project doing ’70 – 80 hours a week’.
Mr Carpterner believes the “the biggest red flag” wan’t until 2017 when he was on his way to America and was sat next to an Irish couple and he fell asleep. He admits he woke up ‘making some bizarre noise, drooling, but not being able to move and struggling to breathe’. He added: “I looked at the Irish couple and the faces just said it all. They looked terrified.”
Sadly, he went onto experience similar symptoms for the final few months before he was finally diagonsed with a brain tumour. “Turns out it wasn’t sleep paralysis like I kept telling myself. I was having violent seizures, but those seizures would only be triggered if I was fatigued or stressed, so I had quite a lot of them. But again, I kept making excuses.” After spending a week in hospital following the operation, he needed radiation and chemotherapy following a second brain tumour.
Symptoms of a brain tumour
According to the NHS, the symptoms of a brain tumour vary depending on the exact part of the brain affected.
Common symptoms include:
- headaches
- seizures (fits)
- persistently feeling sick (nausea), being sick (vomiting) and drowsiness
- mental or behavioural changes, such as memory problems or changes in personality
- progressive weakness or paralysis on one side of the body
- vision or speech problems
Sometimes you may not have any symptoms to begin with, or they may develop very slowly over time.
When to see a GP
The NHS says see a GP if you have these types of symptoms, particularly if you have a headache that feels different from the type of headache you usually get, or if headaches are getting worse.
You may not have a brain tumour, but these types of symptoms should be checked.
If the GP cannot identify a more likely cause of your symptoms, they may refer you to a doctor who specialises in the brain and nervous system (neurologist) for further assessment and tests, such as a brain scan.