Pioneering op proves a life-changer for Jackie
Mum’s sight saved as brain tumour is pulled out of nose
AJLR worker has had her eyesight saved by surgeons who removed a brain tumour – by dragging it out of her nose.
Jackie Llewellyn-Robinson, 48, was diagnosed with meningioma, a tumour affecting the tissue surrounding the brain and spinal cord.
Because the tumours are slowgrowing, a patient can live with one for years before it is spotted.
Mrs Llewellyn-Robinson, a plant convenor at Jaguar Land Rover, was diagnosed with the tumour after her vision became blurry and she suffered dizzy spells in 2017.
Doctors discovered a golf ballsized tumour pressing down on her left optic nerve.
The married mother-of-one underwent brain surgery last year when surgeons were able to remove most of the tumour.
But last October doctors discovered a small piece of the tumour had remained and was growing.
So in May this year she underwent a pioneering procedure, during which surgeons used a tiny endoscope camera and light to access the tumour and remove it through her nostrils.
It is the first time the technique – ‘endoscopic transsphenoidal stealthguided intrasellar meningioma excision’ – has been used at the University Hospital in Coventry.
The operation was a success and Mrs Llewellyn-Robinson was able to return to her home in Kenilworth just five days later.
“I started having vision problems back in February and March 2017,” she said. “It was like looking through a dirty window. Everything was just out of focus.
“Between my GP and my local opticians, I was advised to go to A&E, then I had to go back to the eye clinic at Walsgrave. They arranged
MRI scan.
“I was called back into the hospital on Easter weekend in 2017 to be diagnosed with a brain tumour. That was massively scary. It takes you a while to come to terms with it.
“The first surgery was a craniotomy done in September that year, but we knew there was a small residual tumour. I only spent five days in hospital and recovered well. I was back in work in January 2018. But an annual check-up in October showed the tumour had started to grow.
“They decided to remove it through my nose in May this year. They can dissect it into small pieces to bring it out that way.
“The procedure was a couple of hours under general anaesthetic. In all, I was in for five days. To have the surgery on the Sunday and be discharged by the Friday is amazing. I would like to thank everyone at the trust for giving me my life back.”
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Professor Amjad Shad, a specialist in neurosurgery who operated on Jackie, said: “It is the first time a combined procedure of this nature has been undertaken in Coventry – and won’t be the last. This life-changing procedure is at the cutting edge of neurosurgery. It is amazing to see the difference it has made to Jackie and her outlook on life.”