This will be a story with an emphasis on the lesson of "Nobody knows your body better than you do." Per METRO, Lucy Younger was 18 when she started experiencing seizures and passing out. She had just moved to London to attend school, so when she went to a doctor, she was shocked by the initial diagnosis.
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"The doctors told me I was anxious and partying a bit too much -- they told me to slow down," Younger writes. She continued onward, heeding the advice of medical professionals. However, her situation would get substantially worse when she started to experience hallucinations. She consulted a doctor once more. This time, she was told she was having "severe panic attacks."
"They told me I was anxious and depressed, and put me on a high dose of antidepressants," Younger elaborates. Two years later, in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, she passed out again. And again, she went to a doctor. "'Young girls like you don't get brain tumors so you shouldn't worry,' they said." She desperately asked a local pharmacist, who finally told her what she was experiencing was far from normal.
A Woman's Brain Tumor Goes Untreated As Doctor Ignores Her Symptoms
After an MRI scan, a specialist confirmed that Younger had a brain tumor in her right temporal lobe. Subsequently, she'd need a craniotomy to remove the tumor before it could do more damage. "I no longer had to prove myself to doctors and I wasn't going crazy; I was right that there was something wrong, and I was not the hysterical woman I'd been painted as."
After a grueling five hours of neurosurgery, the tumor was finally gone. However, she would suffer from "short-term memory loss, temporal lobe epilepsy, and other neurological issues." Unfortunately, not long after that, Younger was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. The road to that diagnosis, too, was paved with doubt and dismissals from medical professionals.
"I want my story to be a reminder to other young people and GPs that, no matter our age or gender, we shouldn't be dismissed as either invincible, or hormonal, careless 20-year-olds. We know our bodies and we deserve to be listened to," Younger concluded.
