Teenager was diagnosed with brain tumour after mistaking symptoms for GCSE stress

WHEN Carmarthenshire teenager Sara Govier first experienced headaches and fatigue, she put it down to the pressure of her GCSEs. But what she didn’t know was that they were actually signs of a brain tumour.

- FIONA CALLINGHAM Reporter

Although Sara's parents interpreted the signs as typical teenage growing pains and exam stress, they were still concerned. This prompted her mother Mererid, 50, to book a GP appointment that led to a hospital referral.

Mererid, who works as a primary school teacher, said: “Sara was a normal 15-year-old, preparing for her GCSEs. We just put her symptoms down to being a teenager.”

She added: “Like many parents, my husband and I were both working full-time, her younger sister Elen was at school, and life was busy. We never imagined those symptoms could be a sign of something more serious.”

Following an MRI scan and blood tests conducted two weeks post-referral, Sara was diagnosed with a benign pituitary adenoma, a non-cancerous tumour affecting the pituitary gland, just shy of her 16th birthday in September 2019. Subsequent examinations, including an ECG and ultrasounds, affirmed the tumour’s benign nature.