I thought I was hungover- but doctors said it was a brain tumour

• A diffuse midline glioma can cause problems with balance, speech and vision
• READ MORE: We’re proof cancer is NOT an old person’s disease 

When Ella Pick struggled to keep up with her friends during a girls’ holiday in Zante, she blamed her hangover.

But the 19-year-old’s world was turned upside down when doctors revealed she had an incurable brain tumour.

The check-out worker, from Boston in Lincolnshire, was heartbreakingly given a year to live.

Although there’s no proof her symptoms during her holiday to the Greek island last June were down to her brain tumour, similar ones are known to occur.

Miss Pick said she felt ‘off’ towards the end of a week-long trip to Zante with four of her friends to celebrate the end of college.

Ella Pick, 19, said she felt ‘off’ towards the end of a week-long trip to Zante with four of her friends to celebrate the end of college last June but blamed it on her boozing and partying

She began experiencing severe migraines upon returning home before her left eye drifted inwards

However, her symptoms worsened when she returned home.

Miss Pick said: ‘Everything kind of started when I went away with my girls to Zante for a holiday. It was amazing.

‘For the first two or three nights, I felt absolutely fine. We were all having the best time.

‘Then I didn’t exactly feel ill, I just didn’t feel myself. I wasn’t drinking as much or going out as much.

‘I thought maybe it could be a hangover. I just felt off. Now I look back and think I clearly wasn’t well.’

Miss Pick, pictured with her friend’s on holiday, said she had an amazing holiday but felt ‘off’

Now she looks back on her holiday to Zante and knows she didn’t feel well. At the time she thought it was just a hangover

She added: ‘We got home and I felt absolutely fine then a week or so later I started getting severe migraines.

‘The pressure in the back of my head was awful. I’ve always suffered with migraines but never to that extent.

What is a DIPG, or diffuse midline glioma?

Also called DIPGs, diffuse midline gliomas are the second most common type of primary high grade brain tumour in children.

But the type of fast growing tumour can also occur in adults.

They grow in the midline between the two halves of the brain.

They most commonly grow in the pons in region of the brain stem, the thalamus and the spinal cord.

Symptoms include:

• Problems with walking, coordination or balance
• Weakness in the arms and legs
• Difficulty controlling facial expressions or one side of the face appearing different from the other
• Speech difficulties
• Problems with swallowing and chewing
• Double vision or difficulty controlling eye movement.
• Headaches (especially in the morning)
• Nausea
• Fatigue

Source: The Brain Tumour Charity

‘Then my left eye drifted inwards towards the middle of my face. I went for an eye test and they referred me to the hospital and said it was ‘major concern’.’

Miss Pick was rushed to hospital after a particularly severe migraine in the shower.

Although Miss Pick had experienced migraines for several years, it is not known if these were related to the tumour or not.

Doctors discovered a lump on her brain which was eventually diagnosed as a diffuse midline glioma.

The cancer is incurable and inoperable, with Miss Pick given an estimated 12 months left to live last July.

Diffuse midline gliomas, or DIPGs, typically strike children. The fast growing tumour can also occur in adults, too.

It grows in the midline, between the two halves of the brain, and kills the majority of those who get it within a year, the Brain Tumour Charity says.

It commonly causes problems with balance and walking, weakness in the arms and legs, difficulty controlling facial expressions, speech difficulties, problems with swallowing and chewing and double vison or problems controlling eye movement.

It can also cause nausea, fatigue and headaches.

Following her diagnosis, Miss Pick was forced to turn down an interview for her dream job working as cabin crew for British Airways.

She said she feels ‘numb’ since her prognosis and wants to make as many memories with her friends and family as possible with whatever time she has left.

Miss Pick said: ‘I just felt completely numb. It still doesn’t feel real.

‘Everyone else around me is hurting more than I am.’

She added: ‘They can’t exactly say how long I have because I can’t have a biopsy because of where the tumour is.

‘If I were to have a biopsy, they would more than likely paralyse me so they can’t exactly say how many months I have.

After a CT scan and MRI, doctors discovered a lump on her brain that was later identified as a diffuse midline glioma in her brain stem

The cancer (pictured on the scan) is incurable and inoperable – with Miss Pick given an estimated 12 months left to live in July last year

Miss pick is now trying to make memories with her friends and family. She underwent a six-week course of radiotherapy last year in the hope of slowing the progression of the tumour

‘I’ve gone back to work and would just rather go on with life as normal. I’ve been on a few holidays with my family – we’re just trying to make the most of the time we have.’

She underwent a six-week course of radiotherapy last year in the hope of slowing the progression of the tumour.

Her latest scan revealed the tumour was stable and ‘not growing’ after the course of treatment.

Miss Pick said: ‘There’s always different trials with different drugs. I’d be willing to try anything.

‘You never expect something like this to happen at 18. It’s like a movie. It’s not actually sunk in even though I’ve known for nine months.

‘I’m just trying to get away as much as possible and stay positive.’

Read more