A MUM-OF-TWO was “let down” by doctors after frequent headaches put down to anxiety turned out to be two brain tumours.

Laura McComish, 36, said it wasn’t until after her 12-year-old son found her collapsed in the bathroom that tests revealed there was a more sinister cause to her symptoms.

She has filed a complaint to Clydebank Health Centre, where she was seen by different doctors during multiple visits over a period of a year and a half, with one simply talking to her about taking paracetamol.

Laura, who is from Clydebank, was diagnosed with two meningioma’s, a slow-growing type of brain tumour.

Although as many as 90 per cent of meningioma’s are benign and non-cancerous, doctors decided that Laura would have to have her larger tumour removed.

Laura said: “When I had surgery, I just wanted to survive it to see my wee girl’s first day of school.

“I even made up a will and said to my mum that if anything happened I didn’t want my kids to see me like that, turn off my machine.

“I wanted them to remember me the way that I was. For a year and a half, I was visiting the doctors about having headaches and migraines.

“When my vision started to go and I had a buzzing in my right ear all the time, I knew that something wasn’t right.”

Laura was found by her 12-year-old son Josh after suffering a seizure in her bathroom.

She said: “I hit my face off the tap. I thought I had fainted because I was too warm. I went to A&E and I thought they were checking for concussion.

“Hours later, the doctors told me they had found two masses, one big one at the front of my head and a smaller one.”

“Four weeks later I went for the surgery at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital. I did have a big matte of hair, but so much of it has fallen out now and the doctors said it was due to stress and the head trauma.

“The surgeon told me that the tumours were slow growing, and they could have been there for years.”

Laura says she feels “let down” by the health centre.

She said: “I was going to them for headaches, vision and the buzzing in my ear for a year and a half. They told me it was gynaecology problems because I was bleeding and referred me for that.

“Once I went in and the doctor said to me about taking paracetamol. Another time I went in and was told to go and get my eyes tested.

“You definitely know from your gut instincts. I knew there was something wrong, but I couldn’t pinpoint it. Every time I left the doctors’ office, I knew I wasn’t happy and I wanted to be referred. It took a seizure in the bathroom to find out that I had two brain tumours.

“I wish that everybody could have a full-body MRI scan to pick up anything. You could have a migraine, and actually find out that it's something sinister. I thought I was just getting tested for concussion, I didn’t expect to be told I had two tumours”.

Laura says having brain tumours has had a major impact on her life as well as her 12-year-old son Josh and five-year-old daughter, Daisie.

She said: “I’ve only just turned 36 but I feel about 90.

“I’m still on the seizure pills, so I can’t drive and I had to revoke my license for a year. I used to work as a home carer, so I lost my job too because I needed my car for it. I’ve lost a lot to be honest, like all my beautiful hair. But I’m still here. I just try to keep positive.”

“My family and friends have been amazing, and the neighbours and community as well.

“Joshua and Daisie’s schools have been amazing. My sister has got me through it.”

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“I just want to raise awareness, that if people have migraines to follow it up, and if they aren’t happy, follow it further. Don’t leave it.

“Every birthday, Hallowe'en and Christmas is a second chance for me now to spend time with them.

“I feel like I have another chance for a good life, and I can make them happy on my own”.

A spokeswoman for Clydebank Health Centre said: “The practice takes all complaints seriously and for reasons of patient confidentiality we are unable to discuss individual cases.”

Sarah Lindsell, chief executive of The Brain Tumour Charity, said: “Laura’s experience shows how vital it is that we continue raising awareness of the signs and symptoms of brain tumours, so that patients are referred as quickly as possible for the appropriate tests.

“We hear from so many people whose brain tumours went undiagnosed for months or even years after they first sought medical advice about their symptoms.

“Many of them made numerous visits to their GP or saw several different doctors before they were finally sent for a scan. Far too often, like Laura, they have ended up being diagnosed after a desperate trip to A&E.”