Filipina expat in UAE, 50, shares how ‘routine ENT symptoms’ turned out to be a brain tumour

Dubai: For months, Maira, a 50-year-old Filipina expat in the UAE, noticed small things going wrong. Smells stopped registering the way they used to. Her vision blurred every so often. And her nose kept running with a clear, watery discharge that never quite went away.

None of it seemed urgent. Many people would put similar symptoms down to allergies, ageing, or simply being run down. Maira did too. She had initially dismissed the symptoms as routine ENT (ear, nose and throat) concerns, but when they began interfering with her daily life, she finally saw an ENT specialist.

An MRI of her brain found the real cause: a rare tumour known as an olfactory groove meningioma, growing in the area of the brain that controls smell. It explained everything: the fading sense of smell, the blurred vision, the nasal discharge that wouldn't stop.

Doctors sat down with Maira and her family to walk through what the diagnosis meant and what could be done. Because of where the tumour was sitting, a team of ENT surgeons and neurosurgeons worked together to decide the safest way forward. The doctors eventually agreed on a surgical approach through the nose rather than opening the skull.

The operation went well, and doctors managed to remove the tumour completely. For a day, everything looked promising.

Then, on the second day after surgery, things changed fast.

Fluid that cushions the brain began leaking heavily through her right nostril, and Maira grew drowsy.

Recognising a serious complication, doctors rushed her back into surgery to repair the leak and fitted a shunt to drain excess fluid safely away from her brain.

Just when she seemed to be stabilising again, Maira became drowsy once more.

A scan revealed air had built up inside her skull, a dangerous complication that needed immediate attention.

She was taken back into surgery again, then placed on a ventilator for around a day while her body recovered from the trauma of repeated procedures.

From there, her recovery finally held.

Scans over the following days showed steady improvement, the packing in her nose was removed once doctors were confident there was no further leak, and Maira gradually regained her strength and alertness.

She was eventually discharged, having come through what her medical team describes as a genuinely difficult and closely watched hospital stay.

Dr Anoop Narendran, Specialist Neurosurgery at Medcare Royal Speciality Hospital in Dubai, was part of the team that treated Maira.

He says her case is a reminder that brain tumours don't always announce themselves with dramatic symptoms. "Persistent or progressively worsening headaches, changes in vision, seizures, unexplained weakness or numbness, problems with balance or speech, changes in memory or behaviour, and a gradual change in the sense of smell can all warrant medical evaluation," he explained.

Part of the problem, he said, is that these symptoms overlap with everyday complaints. "These symptoms are often overlooked because they can also be associated with many common and less serious conditions," Dr Anoop noted.

He pointed out that the real test is whether something is new, persistent, or getting worse.

Dr Anoop also stressed that not every headache or sniffle is cause for alarm. "My message to readers would be to be aware of changes in their health without becoming alarmed by every symptom. If something is persistent, unusual or progressively changing, seeking medical advice early is always a positive step,” he added.