Tumour diagnosis after dizzy spells were mistaken for depression

NOW DAUGHTER'S CHALLENGE WILL AID RESEARCH TO FIND CURE FOR CONDITION

- By HOWARD LLOYD

A GRANDMOTHER died from a brain tumour after her dizziness was misdiagnosed as depression.

Pamela Cook died at 65, just five months after being diagnosed with a glioblastoma - an aggressive and incurable brain tumour.

After her daughter, Clair Bowkett, 42, married her husband Ben in March 2023, Pamela started feeling dizzy but was told by the doctor it was depression and she was prescribed antidepressants. Her symptoms worsened, and Pamela had an MRI scan at Lincoln Hospital, where doctors discovered the tumour.

In November 2023, she had surgery to remove as much of the tumour as possible, followed by six weeks of chemo and radiotherapy. But, in February last year, the tumour returned, and Pamela died at home on March 24, 2024, surrounded by her loved ones.

Clair, from Lincoln, said: "It is so hard to make sense of how fast mum's health declined. She went on a cruise in August 2023, looking perfectly well, and by March, she was gone. Glioblastoma is such a cruel and invasive disease. It strips a person of everything: their movement, speech, and independence, piece by piece.