She thought it was just headaches, then an MRI picked up that there was a tumour in her brain – News24
While still reeling from the massive shock of this diagnosis, Lea Bomvana also tragically lost her mom to Covid-19 a few days later.
She first went to a doctor, and was given a prescription for headache tablets.
Then she went to a specialist, and she was told there was nothing to worry about.
But the headaches tormenting Leabetswe Bomvana kept coming back.
So she decided to …….
While still reeling from the massive shock of this diagnosis, Lea Bomvana also tragically lost her mom to Covid-19 a few days later.
She first went to a doctor, and was given a prescription for headache tablets.
Then she went to a specialist, and she was told there was nothing to worry about.
But the headaches tormenting Leabetswe Bomvana kept coming back.
So she decided to go back to a GP who thought maybe she just needed stronger pain medication.
But, still, the headaches continued.
The Executive Head for Business Strategy at Metropolitan Life tells Drum how an unidentified brain tumour almost killed her.
Read more | Here they are! Meet the 30 Inspiring Drum Women of 2022
In December 2019, Leabetswe (or Lea, as her loved one affectionately call her) was making tremendous strides in her career having started a new job at Metropolitan as Executive Head of Strategy and Execution.
She was also due to kick off her MBA (Strategy) at Wits Business School the following year. During this period, Lea started to notice she was not operating at full capacity after experiencing excruciatingly painful headaches on the left side of her head as well as ringing in her ears.
She attributed the intensely painful headaches to the stress from her new role, as well as other career opportunities which included an invitation as part-time lecture at Unisa’s Graduate School of Business Leadership and an offer to sit on the Momentum Metropolitan Foundation board as Executive Director.
“The headaches did not subside, so I thought that it might be tinnitus, so I went to see an ENT (Ear, Nose, & Throat) specialist who conducted a few tests, but could not pick anything up initially.
“So I went to a regular physician, who tried to adjust my pain medication for the headaches and could not find anything wrong following her own examinations.
“I was advised to go back to the ENT specialist for a more detailed scan, and consequently in January 2020 an MRI picked up a cavernoma growth (tumour) in the part of my brain called the thalamus, which is deeply embedded in the brain,” she explains.
Due to the location of the tumour in the brain, surgery was not an option, so the only treatment available was stereotactic radiation. While still reeling from the massive shock of this diagnosis, Lea also tragically lost her mom to Covid-19 a few days later.
“What got me through this very difficult time was acknowledging that I don’t have the strength to do this on my own. I was going to need my husband, my two daughters, my sister, a helper around the house, along with the prayers …….
