Woman, 26, diagnosed with brain tumour after she was fobbed off by GP who told her headaches were caused by contraceptive pill

A young woman discovered her headaches were caused by a brain tumour—after her GP dismissed them as mere side effects of the contraceptive pill.

Holly Worswick, 26, a previously fit-and-healthy PE teacher, started experiencing headaches and intermittent vision in February 2021.

She said: ‘I initially put the symptoms down to fatigue and went to my local GP about the symptoms I was experiencing.

‘They put it down to the contraceptive pill, and they changed the pill I was on to another one—they didn’t investigate any further.’

But when her headaches persisted she grew concerned and went to her local optician for an OCT scan—a non-invasive advanced eye scan.

The results revealed she had a mass the size of a grapefruit on her right optic nerve in the back of her eye on February 14.

Ms Worswick was immediately transferred to Macclesfield District General Hospital, where an MRI and CT scan showed a brain tumour.

‘I was a bit confused to be honest, I didn’t know what it meant. I asked them and they said it was a brain tumour. That is when it hit me, I was like “Oh my gosh”,’ she said.

She was referred to Manchester Royal Eye Hospital for more eye tests.

It was when she attended Salford Hospital for more scans that she was told she needed surgery.

The following day she underwent an operation to try and remove the tumour and take a biopsy to determine if it was cancerous.

Recalling being told the results, she said: ‘They said I had a grade 1 benign meningioma.

‘They said the biopsy was successful, but they weren’t able to remove it all due to its location.

‘I also developed an infection, so I had to undergo a second surgery soon after.’

Within a month, she had to return to hospital to have part of her skull removed due to the infection.

In July 2021, she had a titanium plate fitted in the space where her skull was missing, which was later replaced with one made from biocompatible material.

Her tumour is non-cancerous but, she has had to have several surgeries because it kept growing back.

Sadly, in November 2021, a CT scan showed the tumour had regrown, so she had to have a fourth brain surgery in January 2022.

Of this time, she said: ‘I didn’t enjoy that Christmas, to be honest it was awful.

‘I am not the biggest fan of Christmas anyway, but that made it particularly worse—it was all I was thinking about.’

But despite undergoing the surgery, just two years later, in February 2024, another scan revealed new growth. 

It meant she had to have a fifth operation to remove the tumour, followed by six weeks of targeted proton beam therapy.

After the surgery she thought she was in the all clear, but earlier this year she began struggling with her hearing, and a doctor told her it had grown back again.

This time, the tumour has grown near her ear canal, which she said left her ears ‘popping, leaking and crackling. 

‘I was struggling to hear people, so they removed the eardrum and closed the ear canal off—which has left me slightly deaf in my right ear.’

Following a sixth operation to remove the tumour, she will now undergo MRI scans every six months for the rest of her life to monitor its growth.

In light of everything she has experienced she has applied to be part of this year’s Miss England that kicks off early next month. 

Ms Worswick said: ‘My entry is all about raising awareness of brain tumours. People think pageants are all about how you look, but it isn’t. 

‘It is about your story and what you have done for your community.

‘I want to raise as much awareness for brain tumours [as possible] and show people there is life after diagnosis.’

Shannon Winslade, Head of Services at The Brain Tumour Charity, said: ‘We’re really grateful to everyone who shares their story to raise awareness of brain tumours.

‘We know that every family deals with a brain tumour diagnosis and its aftermath in their own unique way.

‘That’s why The Brain Tumour Charity offers support to anyone who needs it. It’s so important for them to know that they are not alone.’

Earlier this week Jess’s Rule was launched by the NHS in England—named in the memory of Jessica Brady who died of cancer after doctors dismissed her concerns TWENTY times. 

The new rule will force GPs to rethink a diagnosis if a patient comes to them three times with the same symptoms or concerns. 

Just yesterday, writing for the Daily Mail, Health Secretary Wes Streeting said: ‘Jessica Brady Should be alive today.

‘At just 27, this bright young woman died of cancer after her GP failed to diagnose her condition despite more than twenty appointments over five months.’

Ms Brady initially began feeling unwell in the summer of 2020, and contacted her GP surgery more than 20 times. 

However, she was told her symptoms were related to long Covid and she was ‘too young for cancer’.

She died later that year of advanced stage 4 adenocarcinoma cancer—a type of cancer that can occur in several parts of the body.