A GROOM who missed his own wedding reception after passing out with the “worst headache of his life” and feeling massively hungover – despite not having touched a drop of booze.
Nathan Vaughan, 30, blamed “nerves” for the horrendous migraine that struck on the morning of his nuptials, but got the shock of his life just two days later.
11
11
11
11
Nathan married Katie Glass [now Vaughan], 26, on May 4 at St Thomas Church, Holywell, Cambridgeshire, and held their reception at The Old Ferry Boat Inn.
The bridegroom started experiencing a “painful” migraine in the early hours of the morning on his big day, but the couple assumed he was just “feeling the pressure”.
However, straight after the wedding vows, the 30-year-old “passed out” in his hotel for the entire day with the “worst headache of [his] life” – leaving his “gutted” new wife without a first dance.
After Nathan’s migraine persisted for three days, Katie drove her husband to A&E. where he was given a shocking diagnosis.
Read more on brain tumours
Doctors said Nathan’s earsplitting headache was in fact caused by a “huge” brain tumour, which he needed surgery for.
Despite the “crazy” discovery disrupting the couple’s £5,000 celebration, the pair are “grateful” the tumour was identified and removed so quickly.
The couple are now planning to re-do their wedding reception on their anniversary, before heading on a belated honeymoon.
Nathan, a financial crime investigator who lives in Manea, Cambridgeshire, said: “[For it to be] the wedding day of all days, it’s crazy.
“Everything prior had been fine, no problems at all.
“The morning of the wedding I woke up with a cracking headache at 2am and couldn’t go back to sleep.
“I took pain killers, migraine tablets and assumed it was wedding day nerves, feeling the pressure a little bit.
“But it wouldn’t shift and progressively got worse during the day.
“The ceremony came around and I put all my effort into being present for the ceremony. We got through the ceremony and we had some photos.
“The photographer noticed I was a bit off and said ‘are you alright?’ – I shut my eyes without even realising.”
11
11
11
11
Having done his best to power through the pain, Nathan finally realised he couldn’t put on a brave face any longer.
“I popped to the reception and said ‘I think I’ve got to go to bed or something. I feel absolutely awful’,” he recalled.
“It was the worst headache of my life, just constant pain in the top of my head.
“I ended up just going to the hotel room and essentially just passing out for the evening. I was thinking ‘I’m never going to live this down’. I had to go off ill on my wedding day.
“My first thought was ‘my wife is by herself on our wedding day’. I’m laying upstairs wrapped with guilt that I’d left her alone.
“My wife did brilliantly and held it all together and kept the reception going.
“It was like having a massive hangover without touching a single drop of alcohol. It was awful.
“I’m so grateful I got to see my wife walk down the aisle. It was a lovely ceremony. I do remember it. It was still a great day, all things aside.”
SHOCK DIAGNOSIS
The newly wed was driven to A&E by his spouse on Monday 6, as his agonising migraine still hadn’t cleared up.
Doctors informed Nathan he had a haemorrhage in a benign brain tumour the size of two thumbnails and therefore, required surgery to remove it.
Nathan said: “The Monday hit and I said ‘I’m not feeling right’. I might need to go to A&E or something’.
“We got into the car and I got really bad shakes and it wouldn’t stop.
“Katie ran me down to A&E and they ran tests and thought it might’ve been meningitis at first.
It’s a bit crazy how I had all the symptoms of a migraine but it was something far more serious. I didn’t even think about getting it looked at until it carried on three days later
Nathan Vaughan
“They did a CT scan and said I had swelling on my pituitary gland, which sits on the brain.
“I thought it was just swelling and that they’d give me something to bring it down and off I’d go.
“But I got whisked off to hospital and at 2am or 3am I was told I had a huge pituitary gland tumour.
“It haemorrhaged in the morning [of my wedding] so I was bleeding in my brain.
“I was going to have surgery in a few hours. They had to operate because it was pushing against my optic nerve and that was why my vision was off.
“The next day I had a four hour operation to remove this tumour.”
‘IN SICKNESS AND IN HEALTH’
Nathan was told the benign tumour had probably been there his whole life – and he made never have realised if it hadn’t made itself known on his wedding day.
“On the day of the wedding, of all days, it decided to pop essentially,” he said.
“It was a benign tumour thank god. It was a bit of a worry that it wasn’t going to be. It’s sort of a best case scenario.
“It could’ve been a lot worse. As soon as you hear the word ‘tumour’ from the doctor’s you assume the worst.
“I don’t think Katie realised how soon after saying ‘in sickness and in health’ that she’d be looking after me. It’s a long recovery process.”
What are pituitary tumours?
Pituitary gland tumours are brain tumours that start to grow in the the pituitary gland.
This is a pea-sized gland located at the base of the brain that’s in charge making several essential hormones.
Most pituitary tumours aren’t cancerous. They usually grow slowly and tend not to spread.
About 17 per cent of brain tumours diagnosed are pituitary tumours.
As a pituitary tumour grows, it can press on or grow into nearby areas of the brain.
This can cause symptoms because it stops that part of the brain from working normally.
Symptoms can be caused by direct pressure from the tumour itself or they can be caused by a change in your normal hormone levels.
As the tumour grows, it can also put pressure on the optic nerves, which can cause problems with eyesight.
Sources: Cancer Research UK, Macmillan Cancer Support
The hubby, who proposed to his partner on December 22 in front of St Michael’s Mount, Cornwall, admitted the discovery was “crazy” as he had just dismissed his pain as a migraine.
Nathan said: “It’s a bit crazy how I had all the symptoms of a migraine but it was something far more serious.
“I didn’t even think about getting it looked at until it carried on three days later.
“I can imagine a lot of people would put it down to a headache and not think to get it looked at really.
“If it happened the day before, the wedding wouldn’t have gone ahead and if it happened the day after I would’ve put it down to a hangover from drinking and probably wouldn’t have got it looked at.
“I didn’t have any clue about pituitary glands up until this point.
“Apparently quite a lot of people would have [tumours] and not realise it.
“They could go through their whole life and not have symptoms, but in my case it got so big it was causing me issues.”
‘BETTER LATE THAN NEVER’
The couple, who have been together 10 years after they met working at WHSmith, are planning to re-do their wedding reception on their one year anniversary and have booked a honeymoon to Kos, Greece.
Nathan said: “We’re planning on our one year anniversary to invite everyone back and essentially everything we missed we’ll do on the anniversary.
“Do our first dance a year later and do my speech and a cake cutting. Better late than never.
“Luckily we didn’t plan a honeymoon. I wasn’t able to fly after that operation.
“We’ve booked it now for next year. It’s something to look forward to. Blue skies, beaches and hopefully migraine free.”
The most common symptoms of a brain tumour
More than 12,000 Brits are diagnosed with a primary brain tumour every year — of which around half are cancerous — with 5,300 losing their lives.
The disease is the most deadly cancer in children and adults aged under 40, according to the Brain Tumour Charity.
Brain tumours reduce life expectancies by an average of 27 years, with just 12 per cent of adults surviving five years after diagnosis.
There are two main types, with non-cancerous benign tumours growing more slowly and being less likely to return after treatment.
Cancerous malignant brain tumours can either start in the brain or spread there from elsewhere in the body and are more likely to return.
Brain tumours can cause headaches, seizures, nausea, vomiting and memory problems, according to the NHS.
They can also lead to changes in personality weakness or paralysis on one side of the problem and problems with speech or vision.
The nine most common symptoms are:
- Headaches
- Seizures
- Feeling sick
- Being sick
- Memory problems
- Change in personality
- Weakness or paralysis on one side of the body
- Vision problems
- Speech problems
If you are suffering any of these symptoms, particularly a headache that feels different from the ones you normally get, you should visit your GP.
Source: NHS
The new bride admitted she was “gutted” she didn’t get to experience her wedding reception with her new husband but is grateful Nathan’s tumour was removed so quickly.
Katie, who is a police officer, said: “At first I just thought he’d stressed himself out so much he’d made himself sick.
“I was gutted. I told the kitchen ‘you might as well cut the cake’ and I’d just get on with it.
“My dad did a dance with me at the end of the night, bless him.
“We felt incredibly guilty when we found out what it was. We thought it was a migraine.
“It was a weird time. I like looking at the pictures but at the same time it was a really weird day. Not what I imagined for my wedding day.
“I’m so grateful he was seen so early. If we had left it it would’ve really impacted his sight. We’re quite lucky in that way.”
11
11
11
