'My headaches were blamed on work stress - then I discovered I had a cyst on my brain'
‘I thought I was suffering from burnout - doctors later found a cyst on my brain’
A woman whose headaches were repeatedly blamed on work stress has told how an MRI scan finally uncovered a cyst on her brain.
Katherine Andrew, 40, had been suffering from burnout, constant headaches and fatigue, to the point she wasn't able to focus on her work.
But her symptoms got so bad that she had to leave her job and her GP sent her for an MRI scan.
The scan revealed a colloid cyst - a non-malignant tumour in the brain - which can cause neurological symptoms.
She had the cyst removed just three weeks later and went on to pivot her career, now working as an actor - most recently winning the Short+Sweet Yorkshire Festival, which features 36 original 10-minute plays.
Katherine, from Harrogate, said: "I was having lots of headaches. I wasn't able to focus and I was constantly tired all the time.
"These headaches were going on for at least six months that I can remember before I was diagnosed.
"They put the headaches down to stress. It constantly got worse and I had to leave my job in the end.
"I kept going back to the doctors and then in early 2022 my doctor said as a precaution he'd send me for an MRI and it came back that I had a colloid cyst on my brain - the same as Davina McCall.
"Because it was causing me pain I had the surgery three weeks later in February 2022.
"I wasn't able to function at this point so I needed the surgery as soon as possible."
As a result of the surgery, Katherine was left with short-term memory loss - something she still suffers with today.
She added: "If there's something that you want so much, you have to just go for it, you never know what can happen and where you could go with it.
"You won't know unless you try - you'll always go what if?"