From persistent headaches to brain tumour: How a 57-year-old’s Apple Watch saved her life

At 57, Sam Adams believed she had already faced the hardest chapters of her long life. Within a short period, she lost her beloved father, suffered the loss of her dog and saw her beautiful marriage fell apart. Just as she started to pick up her life, came an unexpected event that she never saw coming, and this was more serious than ever.Sam Adam, who lives near Brighton in East Sussex, says 2020 was the only year that broke her completely. The grief became too much for her to handle. “The grief was unbearable” . It shook my sense of who I was and left me paralysed," she recalls. "I felt like I was drowning emotionally. Depression set in, and I hit rock bottom," she told The Sun.After a long and painful year, Sam slowly started to heal and decided to take a solo trip to Costa Rica in 2022. She wanted to rediscover her old self and thought nature was the perfect way to do so. But, life had other plans for her…Two weeks after she returned home, she suddenly started to feel her health was getting much worse! During her trip, she had bumped her head, but she brushed it off as a minor concussion, low energy and “jet lag”. Sam said, “I had no energy, my head ached and my Apple watch kept warning that my heart rate was low”, she remembers clearly.Just like most people would, Sam ignored these warning signs, but then when she visited a pharmacist for a routine blood pressure checkup, things quickly took a turn! Her GP called back within hours, advising her to avoid any physical exertion and to call emergency services if she felt any discomfort, chest pain or jaw pain.An ECG (electrocardiogram) of her heart revealed that her heart was producing extra beats, a medical condition termed as cardiac ectopy. While often harmless, it is an occasional sign of an underlying issue. Doctors took her for a CT scan and the scan revealed, she had a Brain tumour.An abnormal growth in the cells of brain, is usually termed as a brain tumour. Some, are non-cancerous and some are cancerous. Even non-cancerous ones can be just as dangerous if they grow or press on important points of the brain, affecting our vision, movement, balance and memory. In Sam’s case, the tumour was benign (non-cancerous).As said by Sam, “I was in complete shock. I sat on the sofa and called my sister. I was suddenly face-to-face with my own mortality.” Her doctors told her that she would need lifelong monitoring and was prescribed a daily aspirin to reduce the complications such as blood clots. Sam went through her ablation procedure to correct the abnormal heart rhythm, and she said “it was horrific.”Today, Sam is well and alive and she refers to her tumour as 'Timmy'. While she tries to stay positive, the fear is never fully gone. Along with a load of emotional stress, she battles several physical challenges such as weight gain, fatigue and lower energy. While “Timmy still lives in he brain, Sam is now focused on living fully. She is chosen not to let her fear be the king of her life.Just as Sam says, "I can’t change what happened, but I can use it to help others heal-before their bodies scream at them like mine did."Call to action: Brain tumours can be difficult to detect early because their symptoms usually mimic other health conditions such as fatigue, dizziness and minor headaches. If one experiences persistent or unexplained headaches and other neurological conditions, always consult a healthcare professional. Early detection, even in benign tumours can lead to better outcomes.