Tumours made Oswestry woman write backwards and have 14 seizures in an afternoon

Madi Ruby, from Oswestry, has had growths on her brain for more than half her life, recovering from two large tumours.

Thankfully, the two big tumours were safely removed, and she has gone on to make impressive achievements in her work, including being appointed associate dean for nursing at Glyndwr University in Wrexham.

Madi, aged 50, was first diagnosed with a grade 1 meningioma in 1995, at the age of 23. When she first started experiencing an odd sensation and numbness in her right hand and arm she began to ‘explain the problem away’, telling herself it was caused by leaning on that side of her body.

Her symptoms developed into writing backwards, headaches and spells of vomiting. Still driving her car, Madi’s numbness spread to her foot and, after a minor car accident, she decided to get checked out.

Madi said: “The GP said it was unlikely to be anything serious, because I was young. Deep down I knew it was something concerning, and as soon as I got back to my car, I cried.”

Days later, a call from the doctor confirmed Madi had a 6cm tumour on her brain and needed an operation to remove it.

Madi said: “When I walked into my pre-op appointment, I saw a scan image on the wall and thought: ‘that looks bad, whoever that belongs to’. Then I realised it was my scan.

“The surgeons also commented on the fact that I walked in, which they didn’t expect from someone with a tumour that big.”

Surgery was a success and Madi was told the tumour was unlikely to grow again. She developed partial epilepsy, caused by the brain tumour which both alarmed and intrigued a curious Madi. After five years of clear scans to monitor any re-growth of the tumour, Madi was discharged.

In 2006, Madi and husband, Neil, CEO of It&ly Hair and Beauty in Chirk, near Wrexham, welcomed their son Luca, who is now 16 and Madi took a break from her career in TV airtime sales and IT. When Luca was four months old, Madi had 14 partial seizures in one afternoon.

Years later in 2013, Madi received the devastating news the tumour had returned.

She said: “I started to get headaches again, assuming it was because I was now working and had a family but then the GP asked me a very important question: ‘have you ever had headaches like this before?’ and I thought back to my twenties.”

A CT scan at Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Hospital in Oswestry found multiple tumours on Madi’s brain, including a 4cm meningioma, which had progressed to a grade 2.

Surgeons at the Walton Centre in Liverpool removed the tumour and, for now, the smaller growths on Madi’s brain will be monitored with regular scans.

She said: “My diagnosis has meant I’ve had to be agile and adjust to things, such as losing and re-gaining my driving licence due to being at high risk of seizures, which left me feeling low and wanting to do something with my life, including a meaningful a career.”

After achieving her masters in counselling in the mid-noughties and going on to be a lecturer, Madi then completed a PGCE and PhD, and is now associate dean responsible for nursing and allied health professions at Glyndŵr University. She was involved in a successful bid for a contract to educate future nurses and health professionals worth £98m.

Madi said: “I really feel that my brain tumour diagnosis has inspired me and enabled me to make a valuable contribution and give something back.”

This month she is taking on a month-long challenge of walking 10,000 Steps a Day in February to help fund the fight and find a cure for brain tumours.

Madi said: “There’s something about entering my fifties and living with an incurable disease, that has spurred me on to share my story to help others, which is why I am aiming to raise £2,740, which could fund a whole day of research at one of Brain Tumour Research’s Centres of Excellence.”

To donate visit justgiving.com/fundraising/Madi-Ruby