AUTHOR’S HICCUPS AND FALLS WERE CAUSED BY TENNIS BALL-SIZED TUMOUR
WHEN novelist Adam Nicke started suffering with depression, vomiting and endless bouts of hiccups, little did he know they were being caused by a huge tumour behind his right eye.
Surgeons told the Welshman that the benign lump, described as “the size of a tennis ball”, could have been growing inside him for between 20 and 30 years.
But after undergoing a life-saving operation, the 50-year-old survived his severe health scare and has rekindled his love of writing.
Adam, from Chepstow, said he first knew something was seriously wrong with his health when he fell over in the street three times in January 2015.
Then nine months later he collapsed in his house from a seizure, and when he came around was unable to lift himself up again.
“I was trying to get something from a kitchen cupboard and I fell over backwards and had a seizure,” he said.
“When I woke up I couldn’t move and couldn’t stand back up. I just had the dog sniffing around me.
“I live on my own, but I’d posted on Facebook how ill I was feeling and a woman I added as a friend came to check on me.
“She was shouting through the window and I thought I was shouting back.
“They found me lying on my kitchen floor and had to call the police to break in.
“They, in turn, called an ambulance and I was rushed to the Royal Gwent Hospital.”
A CT scan was carried out on the severely ill man, who at this stage was unable to talk, which revealed a 6cm brain tumour.
“Apparently at one point I was talking gibberish and couldn’t even tell the doctors my own name,” he added.
He was then transferred to the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff where an operation was carried out later that week.
“I was told by my surgeon the night before the surgery that there was a chance I wouldn’t survive the operation,” he said.
“The tumour had reached 6cm but is said to grow between 2-3mm a year suggesting it’s been growing for between 20 and 30 years.”
Despite the operation being declared a success, he found himself back in hospital after suffering major swelling on his face.
Doctors discovered that he’d contracting a super bug which in its own right could have killed him.
“I was initially euphoric that all symptoms of depression and anxiety had gone, but I was left feeling very tired with attention deficit and irritability,” he added.
“I had my driving licence revoked for a year due to the seizure which, with no close family left and chronic fatigue, was very difficult.”
Two decades before the tumour was diagnosed, Adam was a keen writer and had his first book published in 1995 – a gothic horror novel called Grim Fairy Tales.
Following a growing interest in such literature, following the success of the Twilight saga, Adam decided to rework and republish the book, which is now available on Amazon.
“The book is more relevant now than it was when I wrote it,” he added.
“It’s all about dealing with guilt, sin, loss and loneliness, all of which I’ve experienced in my life.”