'Doctors said I was stressed and should breathe into a paper bag - but I actually had a brain tumour'

A woman who was misdiagnosed with stress by doctors and advised to breathe into a paper bag later discovered she had a brain tumour.

Gabrielle Renee, 50, visited her GP in 2019 due to symptoms like deja vu, confusion, and visual disturbances.

Initially, the medical professionals attributed her symptoms to stress from family illness and a marriage breakdown.

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Doctors even suggested that her extreme visual disturbances of zigzags, dots, and people appearing cartoon-like were down to migraines. She was sent home and told to breathe into a paper bag and seek counselling.

The Knebworth mother of two said: "I felt relieved. I thought to myself; thank goodness it’s nothing serious." However, as time passed, she realised the beta blockers prescribed for migraines were ineffective.

"When I saw the GP again, they said the symptoms I’d been describing were seizures and I instantly knew it was more serious than first thought," she said.

In September 2022, while waiting for a treatment plan, Gabrielle married Alina at Stevenage Registry Office.

Five months on, in February 2023, she underwent surgery at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge which succeeded in removing almost 95 per cent of her cancerous tumour. The follow-up radiotherapy was completed, but chemotherapy had to be stopped as she fell too unwell to endure it.

Gabrielle, who is a hearing therapist and lip-reading instructor, described the ordeal: "The whole experience was hugely traumatic.

"The pain from the operation was excruciating and the high dose of steroids I had to take changed my personality. I talked non-stop, walked obsessively and felt depressed."

As she remains on a ‘watch and wait’ Gabrielle, Alina and their two children are taking on the Brain Tumour Research 99 Miles in November challenge. Participants have the full month to complete the distance in any way they choose. She said: “Together, we’ve covered 45 miles so far. And find that I can cover at least a mile every morning by pacing the train station platform as I always get there early."

She added: "Just 1% of the national spend on cancer research has been allocated to this devastating disease since records began in 2002.

"If I can help to raise awareness of how little is invested in research into the disease, then I will do that for as long as I can.”

Charlie Allsebrook, community development manager at Brain Tumour Research, said: “Gabrielle’s story is sadly not unfamiliar, one in three people knows someone affected by a brain tumour.

"If we are to understand this disease, there must be adequate funding into research brain tumours.

"It’s with her support and generosity of people such as Gabrielle and her whole family, that will help us one step closer to finding kinder treatments and eventually a cure for all types of brain tumours.”