Lauren Papadopoulos Green’s arm spasmed so severely that it caused her to throw her dinner over her 13-year-old brother sat next to her – and doctor’s revealed she gad tumour and just months to live
A young woman says her family thought she threw her dinner over her brother for ‘attention’ – only to discover the arm spasm was a brain tumour.
Lauren Papadopoulos Green says the first time she remembers her left arm spasming was when she was sat at dinner with her parents and younger brother. Lauren, who was 18 years old at the time, says her arm spasmed so severely that it caused her to throw her dinner over her 13-year-old brother sat next to her.
The content creator says her parents put the incident down to her ‘wanting attention’ but when it kept getting worse and her arm became paralysed she was taken for an MRI. After being diagnosed with a type of non-cancerous brain tumour called a schwannoma in February 2013, Lauren says doctors gave her just a 5% chance of survival.
‘Against all odds’ Lauren survived the operation to remove the tumour and went on to make a fully recovery. But at what she thought would be her last ever MRI scan, Lauren received the devastating news that the tumour had grown back in January 2023.
Now 31, Lauren now receives regular MRI scans to monitor the tumour, and will undergo surgery to remove it if shows signs of growth. Lauren, of Ashford, Surrey, said: “My left hand started spasming out of the blue.
“The first time I fully remember it happening, I was eating dinner with my family and my hand spasmed and I threw my dinner over my brother who was sat next to me. He thought I was just messing about and my mum thought I was doing it for attention basically – no one took it seriously.”
Lauren says the spasms continued to progress to the point where they were happening in both of her arms and legs. She said: “That [the arm spasm] kept happening here and there and then it started happening to my legs as well. I was in school at the time and I kicked the chair of the person in front of me.
“As it got worse it was happening daily – it moved to both my arms, both my legs. I didn’t have an explanation for it; I just put my head in the sand with it really.”
But when she woke up one morning and had completely lost the movement and sensation in her right arm, she was rushed to hospital. Lauren said: “The spasm was progressively was getting worse and then in February [2013] I woke up and my right arm was basically paralysed.
“It just wasn’t moving – it was as if my brain wasn’t sending the signals to my arm to move. If I ran a bath, I wasn’t able to tell if the water temperature was hot for example. I remember my parents trying to do a pin prick test – they would put a drawing pin in my finger to see if I could feel it and I couldn’t.”
Lauren underwent an MRI scan that revealed she had a type of benign brain tumour called a schwannoma, and received the devastating news that she had just a 5% chance of survival. She said: “The doctors told me I had a 5% chance of surviving this. It was a real shock, but I don’t think I was really taking it in.
“They said that if the tumour doesn’t kill you, then the operation is likely going to. My parents decided it was better to at least try the operation.” Lauren underwent surgery to remove the tumour a month later in March 2013 and went on to make a full recovery.
She said: “At the time it was fully successful against all the odds and I went on to make a full recovery. After that I had to learn to walk again, because the tumour had made my arm stop working and then made me legs stop working in the lead up to the operation.
“Near enough straight away I was mostly back to normal and I started living my life again. I went to college, went to university and ended up building my career.”
Despite making a full recovery, Lauren continued to experience the spasms, which are now classed as dystonia. Dystonia is a condition which describes the name for uncontrolled and sometimes painful muscle movements. At what she believed would be her final ever MRI scan, Lauren sadly received the news that the tumour had grown back in January 2023.
Lauren said: “It was a massive shock – it was more of a shock [than the first time] if anything because I’d gone thinking that I was being signed off and that I was never going to have to deal with this again.
“This time I am more of an adult, I have a full-on life, a career, responsibilities. This time has been a lot harder than it was back in the day.” Lauren is now on a ‘watch and wait’ treatment approach, which means that her tumour is regularly monitored for signs of growth.
If the tumour does show growth, Lauren may have to undergo surgery to remove it. Lauren said: “I’m just being monitored and I just have to find out at each appointment what happens next basically. I’ll continue being monitored and surgery is likely if it gets to the point that it needs to be removed.
“I’m in a much better place with it mentally – I haven’t let it takeover my whole life, I have to live my life, otherwise what am I going to do, sit in bed and cry all day? That’s how I do feel mentally, but I can’t let it be like that. I’m 31 now – I have to live my life and carry out.”
Lauren is now encouraging other people who feel like something is wrong with their body to ‘advocate for themselves. She said: “If something doesn’t feel right, then you should speak up. If you don’t feel right in yourself then make sure you’re getting checked out,
“Don’t always seek medical advice online – speak to an actual person. Advocate for your own health and make sure that you are being listened to.”
BRAIN TUMOUR FACT BOX (Info from NHS)
A brain tumour is a growth of cells in the brain that multiplies in an abnormal, uncontrollable way. Symptoms vary depending on the exact part of the brain affected. Common symptoms include headaches, seizures, feeling sick, vision or speech problems and progressive weakness or paralysis on one side of the body. Treatment options include surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy.