Katie’s story

Not just smudged glasses

When Katie, in her 30s, noticed her vision in her right eye was a bit blurry at the end of 2024, she first thought it was just a smudge on her glasses. “I cleaned my glasses to within an inch of their life,” Katie says. But when this didn’t help and her vision gradually got worse, she realised that it was instead something wrong with her eye.

Seeking out an initial opinion, Katie went to her optician for some vision tests and an eye examination. These all came back as normal, but Katie knew that there was definitely something wrong. As the Christmas period came around and with a lot going on with her family, Katie decided to put her health worries aside. 

By the new year, Katie’s vision was significantly worse. “I play netball, and I was just barging into people – I had no peripheral vision at all,” she remembers. Katie was starting to get worried about the thought of losing sight in her right eye completely. Through her work, Katie had access to private medical insurance (PMI), so used this to get an appointment with an HCA UK GP. After Katie described her symptoms to the GP, he suggested that there may be an issue with her optic nerve. Katie was referred to an ophthalmologist, who arranged for her to have a visual field test.

From a worrying diagnosis to much-needed reassurance

The visual field test showed the full extent of Katie’s vision loss – she only had 30% vision out of her right eye. Katie had an MRI scan to try and uncover the cause of her vision loss, and the scan found a mass on the surface of her brain, compressing her optic nerve. Having recently lost her step mother to a brain tumour, getting a diagnosis of a tumour was very hard for Katie. “I wasn’t fully processing what was happening to me properly, but you can’t help but make comparisons,” she says. “You just think all the worst things.”

Soon after, Katie started having headaches, and she didn’t know if they were stress headaches or were caused by her tumour. Following the advice she was given, Katie went to her local A&E, who referred her to another NHS hospital. At this point, Katie realised she could use her PMI to continue her care with HCA UK. Her insurer gave her a list of consultants she could see, and she called the first on the list. 

After describing her symptoms, the consultant told Katie he thought she had a suprasellar meningioma. This is a slow-growing, benign tumour that grows near the pituitary gland and presses on the optic nerves. If left untreated, suprasellar meningiomas can cause blindness and pituitary gland dysfunction. Hearing the explanation from the consultant helped ease some of Katie’s worries. “We spoke for 45 minutes and when I got off the phone I cried,” Katie recalls. “He’d given me so much information and some of the fear went away.”

While the consultant Katie spoke to was an expert neurologist, he said that the best person to see would be an expert in suprasellar meningioma. The consultant recommended that Katie see Mr Sinan Barazi, a Consultant Neurosurgeon at The Harley Street Clinic who’s specialised in pituitary and skull base tumours. After booking her appointment and seeing Mr Barazi, Katie’s worries were put to rest. “The minute I spoke to him I felt at ease,” she says. “I thought, ‘this is the guy I want operating on my brain!’”

A surgical success

Mr Barazi discussed Katie’s treatment options with her, and she chose to have an eyebrow craniotomy, a minimally invasive surgical procedure to remove the tumour. This option aimed to preserve Katie’s vision, but there was no guarantee it would be restored because the tumour may have irreversibly damaged the optic nerve it was pushing against. 

A few weeks later, Katie went into surgery, and she felt much better than she could have guessed. “I was a little nervous and had a few flutters before going into surgery, but nowhere near the scale I thought I’d be,” she recalls. “I felt in great hands.” 

The surgery involved making a small incision in Katie’s right eyebrow to get access to the tumour, which was immediately above the pituitary gland. The pituitary gland is in the middle of the skull, deep behind the nose and eyes. A small opening (called a craniotomy) is made in the skull above the eye, and the tumour is carefully removed. The bony opening is then closed using three small titanium plates. Prior to surgery, MRI scans showed that the tumour was only partially surrounded by brain fluid. If a tumour isn’t fully surrounded by brain fluid, it can be more challenging to remove as it may be densely stuck to important nerves and arteries. As a result, Mr Barazi was unsure of how much of the tumour he could remove, and therefore whether Katie’s vision would be restored.

Seeing clearly once again

Waking up after surgery, Katie was initially a little confused that she had her glasses on. “I soon realised why – Mr Barazi was standing above me,” Katie recalls. “He asked me ‘can you see me?’ and I could, out of both eyes!” The surgery had been a great success – Mr Barazi was able to remove the entire tumour, and Katie’s vision was not only preserved, but restored. “It was so nice seeing Mr Barazi there smiling,” Katie says. “He was just as excited as I was. It shows how much he cares.” Katie stayed at the hospital for three nights before going home for the usual rest and recovery after brain surgery, with Mr Barazi checking in on her recovery every day. And after returning home and taking visual field tests, Katie’s back to 100% vision in her right eye. 

But after coming home, Katie started feeling very ill, and was eating and drinking very little. Katie’s husband called Mr Barazi, who told him that Katie likely had low sodium levels. While the surgery was a success, surgery near the pituitary gland can sometimes cause complications affecting hormones controlling the body’s water and salt balance. Katie had the potential complications explained to her prior to her surgery, and chose to undergo the surgery to preserve her eyesight. Mr Barazi told Katie’s husband to take her to A&E, where Mr Barazi’s thoughts were confirmed. “Mr Barazi checked in every day,” Katie says. “He spoke to the consultants in A&E and explained my surgery and what he thought I had. He’s been fantastic.”

Mr Barazi recommended some HCA UK endocrinologists to Katie, and he continues to check in on her progress. Although she had a bump in her recovery, Katie now has medication to help with her cortisol levels and diabetes insipidus, another common complication of neurosurgery where the body’s water balance is disrupted, leading to frequent urination and dehydration, and she has everything in place to manage her diagnoses. 

Despite this, 10 weeks after her surgery, Katie was up on stage hosting a panel at a conference for her work. “To be 10 weeks post-surgery in front of a room of 200 people talking about what I’m passionate about, that’s just wild to me,” Katie says. She’s appreciative of having her vision back, and for the continued care and support she’s received from Mr Barazi. “Every step of the way he has shown knowledge, empathy and care.” Now that she’s receiving the extra support she needs and has her vision back, Katie is right back into doing what she loves. “I’m just about to fly to Austin for another conference and then I’m off on holiday with my husband,” Katie says. “To be able to enjoy time with my family is just amazing.”

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