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After constantly being dismissed by different doctors, a young mother discovered that her pounding headaches were actually being caused by a life-threatening cyst growing on her brain.
When 22-year-old Sharnie Ludlam’s headaches became so painful that she had to see her doctor three times in 10 days, she couldn’t figure out why nobody took her seriously.
According to The Daily Mail, at one point, Ludlam’s headaches felt so severe that she ended up calling an ambulance.
To her shock and horror, the paramedics viewed Ludlam’s constant pain as such a low priority that they refused to waste their time taking her to the hospital.
Finally, when she demanded that her doctors take a closer look, Ludlam was given a scan that revealed a monstrous cyst growing on the front of her brain.
The young mom ultimately had to be transported to St. George’s Hospital in London, where a team of doctors performed an emergency surgery.
Ludlam was given a craniotomy, a serious operation where a section of the skull, referred to as a “bone flap,” is removed in order to access the brain; it was replaced with screws and small plates after the surgery.
After the eight operation to remove the massive cyst was complete, Ludlam found out that she wouldn’t have lasted longer than two weeks if she hadn’t gone to the hospital when she did.
“The whole thing was so scary, I didn't know what to do - I just knew that something was very wrong with me,” she said, The Daily Mail reported. “I thought I was going to die, and even the doctors told me I would only have lived another two weeks if I didn't do anything about it.”
Ludlam said the emergency surgery has left her with an indent near the top of her head and her partner has practically had to take care of their 2-year-old daughter on his own.
“Ever since October I haven't been able to work. My partner has had to look after us, he's doing everything,” she said. “It's been one hell of a journey.”
