Joanne's Story

Four years ago, Joanne was a young professional woman with the world at her feet. Then, without warning, her body went weak and she began experiencing what she thought were symptoms of a stroke.

"The right side of my body just became incredibly weak. I couldn't even lift my right arm to brush my hair or my teeth. My vision was affected too and I had an unusual numbness in my throat."

But the worst was yet to come - with Joanne visiting doctors at The Queen Elizabeth Hospital emergency department. A MRI scan revealed the most shocking news - Joanne had a meningioma, a tumour growing out of the membrane surrounding her brain.
Doctors monitored the tumour but 20 months later, Director of the Neurosurgery Unit at the Royal Adelaide Hospital Professor Peter Reilly told Joanne the tumour had grown and it should be removed as soon as possible.

The normal procedure – a craniotomy – where surgeons cut open your skull to remove the tumour was not an exciting prospect. But Joanne initially didn't realise she had options. Professor Reilly suggested the tumour could be removed through nasal surgery - never before performed in Australia. She flew home to England to seek support of her family and to visit a neurosurgeon there. But she was told the only option was a craniotomy and the nasal surgery could not be performed in England.

So, thanks to research developed at The Queen Elizabeth Hospital and the Royal Adelaide Hospital, Joanne returned to Adelaide to have the surgery performed by Professor Peter-John Wormald, Professor of Otolaryngology and a specialist in rhinology and endoscopic sinus surgery, and Dr Steve Santereneos, consultant neurosurgeon. There was still no guarantee the nasal surgery would be a success, so a second surgical team were on standby to perform the craniotomy if needed.

"The first thing I remember doing when I came to in recovery was feeling for my hair. It was there which meant the nasal surgery had been a success. I was overwhelmed with relief - and gratitude to Professor Wormald and his medical team."

Now, more than two years after the surgery, there is no sign of the tumour which once threatened to dull the light of this young woman's life. She has just returned from an exciting overseas adventure with her partner Neil (pictured right). The future again looks bright.