Story of woman who thought she had a hangover but it was actually a brain tumor is pure gold

A Houston mom dealing with a hangover learns that she was actually suffering from a brain tumor that required a high-risk surgery for her survival.

23-year-old Christina Smith retired to bed with a hangover but woke up faced with her mortality. She had been nursing a brain tumor all along.

WHAT SEEMED LIKE A TYPICAL HANGOVER...

It seemed like one of those episodes for Christina who’s a mother of one and a nursing student. After having a few drinks at a birthday party the previous night, she was carrying a headache the whole of next day. She thought it was a hangover that would soon dissipate.

However, the following morning, Christina had a seizure that led her to the hospital. There she learned that what she thought was a hangover was, in fact, a dangerous brain tumor.

...TURNED OUT TO BE A TUMOR

Doctors said the tumor was of an “aggressive” type requiring immediate surgery. However, according to Dr. John Tymes at Bayshore Medical Center, the operation was going to be risky because the tumor was “wrapped around a very large blood vessel in the brain.” This would mean removing parts of the vein attached to the tumor. When this is done, there was a great risk that Christina would be paralyzed.

HER AMAZING STRENGTH AND RECOVERY

Young and brave, Christina went ahead with the surgery despite her odds. Luckily for her, the tumor was removed with only half of her body paralyzed. What was even more amazing was her quick recovery. She was back to normal faster than expected. According to Christina, she didn’t even require a lot of rehab. She attributes her speedy recovery to the support of close to 40 family and friends who cheered and waited for her at the hospital during her surgery. Christina has since been back in nursing school.

HAVING A HEADACHE OVER A HEADACHE

A headache can be a deceitful thing. It occurs often yet its implications fall on a wide spectrum of possibilities. It could be caused by simple dehydration or eye strain, or in Christina’s case, it could already be a sign of a deadly tumor. That being said, there have been many cases where headaches were written off as something else rather than what they really were.

ANOTHER WOMAN CONFUSES A TUMOR WITH A HANGOVER

A similar case to Christina’s was reported in 2016. Hope Stringer also thought she had a hangover but later learned through an MRI that she had a tumor. Like Christina, Hope survived the ordeal though she’s probably more cautious now about shrugging off a hangover.

A DOG WITH A PUZZLING BRAIN TUMOR

Meanwhile, brain tumors can also appear without any symptoms at all - at least for one dog whose case became viral a few months back. Pinto was a dog who puzzled veterinarians because he had a grapefruit-sized tumor in his head but he appeared as if he wasn't sick at all. He was so full of life. He was discovered at a kill center in Florida where he was supposed to be euthanized because no one was adopting him. Luckily, a no-kill senior dog rescue group saved Pinto from his death and even found a way to prolong his life.