Teen given just months to live after mistaking hangover during girls’ holiday for incurable cancer
Warning: This article contains discussion of cancer which some readers may find distressing
19-year-old Ella Pick from Lancashire thought she'd been partying too hard when a 'hangover' left her out of action on a girl's holiday.
Ella, from Lancashire, jetted off on a week-long holiday to Zante to make memories with her friends in June last year.
It began to dawn on Ella that something much more serious than a hangover though when she returned home.
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The symptoms didn't subside, and Ella found herself battling a series of severe migraines and a drifting eye.
In July that same year, she decided to visit her local optician who referred her to a hospital.
She recounted: "I look back and think I clearly wasn't well. The pressure in the back of my head was awful. I've always suffered with migraines but never to that extent.
"Then my left eye drifted inwards towards the middle of my face. I went for an eye test and they referred me to the hospital and said it was 'major concern'."
It was there when Ella's entire life changed.
Doctors at Pilgrim Hospital in Boston, Lincolnshire, found a lump on Ella's brain after CT and MRI scans - 'a diffuse midline glioma' on her brain stem.
Shortly after, she was dealt the heartbreaking news that they had found an incurable and inoperable brain tumour.
They then gave her just one year to live.
Ella shared: "I just felt completely numb. It still doesn't feel real. Everyone else around me is hurting more than I am.
"They can't exactly say how long I have because I can't have a biopsy because of where the tumour is. If I were to have a biopsy, they would more than likely paralyse me so they can't exactly say how many months I have."
Being a normal teenager, she shared that she was gutted about having to walk away from the opportunity to work as cabin crew for British Airways. She had just secured an interview.
Her current job is in a supermarket.
Ella said: "I've gone back to work and would just rather go on with life as normal. I've been on a few holidays with my family - we're just trying to make the most of the time we have."
Ella, who works on check-out at a supermarket, said she feels 'numb' since her prognosis - and wants to make as many memories with her friends and family as possible with whatever time she has left.
Last year, Ella went through a gruelling six weeks of radiotherapy treatment in an attempt to slow down the tumour's progression.
The silver lining is that Ella's latest scan revealed the tumour was stable and 'not growing'.
Ella has since said she's 'open to anything' that will help.
She explained: "There's always different trials with different drugs. I'd be willing to try anything.
"You never expect something like this to happen at 18. It's like a movie. It's not actually sunk in even though I've known for nine months.
"I'm just trying to get away as much as possible and stay positive."
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, contact Macmillan’s Cancer Support Line on 0808 808 00 00, 8am–8pm seven days a week.
Kya Buller