Man Who Ignored 'Wonky' Pupils Diagnosed With Brain Tumor

When Aled Harris first noticed his pupils had gone "wonky," he thought nothing of it. A few months later, he was admitted to the hospital for a brain tumor.

Harris shared his experience in the subreddit r/oddlyterrifying on Tuesday in a post titled "My eyes started doing a this really cool looking—different sizes thing. (Turns out it's a tumour)." It has received over 17,500 upvotes.

"I decided to ignore it at first because after looking online, I realized there was a good chance that it wasn't serious," Harris told Newsweek. "My pupils aren't constantly mismatched, they go back to normal most the time so it was easy to forget about it...I got the odd headache but so does everyone."

For peace of mind, Harris—a children's poet—visited an eye doctor at his local hospital. "At the time I went, my eyes were normal," he said. "The doctor did a few tests, shining a light to check for reactivity and said my eyes were normal. Nothing to worry about. Go home.

"That settled my nerves for a few weeks but after a while I started feeling anxious every day. My eyes were still going weird and I couldn't help but feel like something was wrong."

Eventually, Harris decided to go back to the hospital. "The second time, I went to consult a neurologist," he said. "My eyes were doing their thing when he checked me and ordered me to go for an MRI which revealed the tumor.

"I will always remember seeing the scan, the tumor highlighted in white. It looked huge. My heart sank. I didn't know that brain tumors were survivable at that point."

The tumor was benign. "It's not cancer," he said. "The treatment is much more straightforward."

According to the U.K.'s National Health Service, a benign brain tumor is a mass of cells that grows relatively slowly in the brain. They tend to stay in one place and do not spread in the way that malignant cancers do. However, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine, benign brain tumors can still damage and compress parts of the brain and, depending on their location, can be life-threatening.

Most benign brain tumors do not come back after surgery.

There are several different types of benign brain tumor depending on the cell type involved and the location in the brain. Doctors will not know for sure what type of tumor it is until the mass is removed.

"I've done a series of scans, checked my eyes and checked the nerves in my face and mouth," Harris said on'Wednesday. "In the hospital where I'm doing the operation, brain neurological patients are kept under supervision until the surgery date. So I've been living in a ward, being checked day in and day out by nurses and doctors. I will have surgery in three days from now."

Reflecting on his situation, Harris has managed to stay positive. "I'm lucky in a lot of ways," he said. "My tumor is in a position that can be accessed through the sinuses (up my nose). This is a gentler procedure than a craniotomy [a procedure that involves cutting into the skull]. The chances of success are high and while there are always risks, they're only slight for this procedure.

"After my operation I should start feeling better after just a few days. Then everything should be back to normal in a few weeks."

Harris urged anyone in a similar position not to ignore their concerns about their body. "In my case, being paranoid and trusting my body paid off," he said. "If you have symptoms and you are concerned about your health, I do think you should go and get checked out. Don't put it off. Something as simple as wonky pupils could be an indicator for something more scary."

Is there a health issue that's worrying you? Do you have a question about brain tumors? Let us know via health@newsweek.com. We can ask experts for advice, and your story could be featured on Newsweek.