Published1 hour agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingImage source, Adele JohnstonBy Angie BrownBBC Scotland, Edinburgh and East reporterWhen Adele Johnston was a bodybuilder she was on gruelling diets and fitness regimes that left her hungry and exhausted all the time.The Scottish double gold bodybuilding champion’s hair began to fall out, she had bleeding gums, heart palpitations, itchy skin and painfully swollen genitals.After years of scans and painful tests it was discovered these were symptoms of early perimenopause – the stage before a woman’s period stops.On average, it starts when women are 46 years old. Adele, a mother-of-two from Fife, was in her early 30s.”For years and years I was pushing my body beyond its limits physically and mentally. Bodybuilding is an extreme sport and I wasn’t healthy,” she told BBC Scotland News. “You could see my ribs and my bone structure, I was emaciated. How my body looked was not nice and healthy and I went against my intelligence and knowledge to put myself through those gruelling diets.”I was always hungry and was never satiated.”Image source, Adele JohnstonAt 5ft 8ins (1.7m), Adele was only 8stones 3lbs (53kg) as a bodybuilder – two stones lighter than she is now.”I’ve started to question why I went into an early perimenopause and have asked many doctors if it was due to my bodybuilding and they said ‘It is possible but we don’t have the research,” she said. Dr Heather Currie, a specialist gynaecologist at NHS Dumfries and Galloway, suggested the extreme bodybuilding could have caused Adele’s menstrual cycle to “stall”. “Anything in extreme you have to question if that is going to have other effects and what I often talk about is everything in moderation,” she said. “Any over excess or excess of not enough of something is not going to be good overall.”If the whole cycle is able to stall then you could see why some people might have symptoms [of perimenopause].”Dr Currie, who advises the Scottish government on the menopause and women’s health, suggested the ovaries could “return to normal” once Adele stopped bodybuilding. “Bodybuilding could have influenced it but she will never know,” she added. Image source, Adele JohnstonAdele has now given up bodybuilding – but she has also been put on HRT and a Mirena coil, which completely stops her monthly periods, to help her perimenopausal symptoms. The 40-year-old is finally feeling better and is not prepared to come off the medication to check whether her cycle has recovered. “I suffered from horrific perimenopause symptoms,” she said. “I had heart palpitations and thought I was having a heart attack, I couldn’t sleep at night so was exhausted, I had cold sweats and I was itchy all over my body.”I had so much pain in my vulva I had to stand at my desk at work. I had abdominal bloating and bleeding gums and was losing my hair. It was very traumatic.”Because I have the Mirena coil and my hormones feel stable, I’m not prepared to remove it to check if I’m having a bleed.”What is the perimenopause? Image source, Dr Paula Briggs, Fast facts for MenopauseThe menopause is when women’s periods stop, which normally happens around the age of 51.The lead-up to this happening, when periods become irregular, is known as the peri-menopause. It starts, on average, at 46.This is when many women notice their periods becoming unpredictable or heavy, and have feelings or physical problems they haven’t experienced before.When periods haven’t happened for 12 months, you have reached menopause.What is the menopause and what are the signs?Vicky McCann, the chairwoman of the British Natural Bodybuilding Federation, said any potential link between bodybuilding and the early perimenopause was a “very interesting subject”.The 54-year-old said: “I have been competing for 30 years and have only had signs of menopause in the last three years.”I had no issues up until then and I have dieted and trained all my life. I can think of about three other people my age who have also had no problems.”However, the thing is people are all unique, it’s an interesting subject.”Jessica Watson, co-founder of menopause education organisation, Gloriah, said she had encountered many stories like Adele’s. “There is an urgent need for greater recognition of, and research into, the causes of early menopause – which is at the heart of what we are campaigning for,” she added. ‘I could barely function’Adele is now a menopause coach after resigning from her job as an operational resilience manager in an investment bank.”My debilitating symptoms eventually forced me to leave my job,” she said. “The company I worked for couldn’t support me in my needs when I was going through perimenopause.”I’d asked for six weeks of reduced hours while I adjusted to being on HRT and they refused.”I was so unwell I could barely function. So my husband Sean said leave and we would work it out.”Adele said she was nervous leaving her job.”It was petrifying to say goodbye to my salary, pension, benefits and career path, but I saw it as an opportunity to retrain as a menopause coach, using what I’d been through to help others.”She added: “Bodybuilding is a glitzy and glamourous sport but behind the stage we have to be mindful of the health implications.”More on this storyWhat is the menopause and what are the signs?Published23 March 2023HRT medicine to be sold over counter for first timePublished8 September 2022Related Internet LinksAdele Johnston CoachingGloriahBritish Natural Bodybuilding Federation official websiteThe BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.

Published2 hours agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingBy Angie BrownBBC Scotland, Edinburgh and East reporterFor 17 years, Daren Frankish has been suffering from headaches so agonising they leave him screaming and banging his head off walls. The 53-year-old from Edinburgh says they feel like he is being hit full-force with a baseball bat, while being stabbed in the eye with a knife. Officially known as cluster headaches, they are thought to be one of the most painful conditions to affect a human being. “During lockdown I had to walk to the hospital and I remember thinking if a bus came along I would jump in front of it – so I know why they are called suicide headaches,” the horticultural engineer told BBC Scotland News.”I live in fear of the next attack, it frightens the life out of me. It’s a psychological torture knowing it can come at any time, I’m so scared of them.”Cluster headaches: Like someone is grabbing your face’I could rip my eye out at times’Attacks normally last between 15 minutes and three hours and can happen in clusters of seven or eight in a day.But Daren has also endured episodes which have lasted 12 hours. He says they begin with shooting pains on the left side of his head, above his eye. “My left eye starts to go red, starts to droop and waters profusely. My nose blocks up and a severe pain starts in my head,” he said. “I can only describe the attack as awful. It is like someone has hit you full swing with a baseball bat. It also feels like a knife has gone through above my left eye and then been levered down.”I get very restless and sometimes physically sick, I scream into a pillow, bang my head on the wall or anything hard, I usually pace around my living room in pitch darkness as I cannot tolerate any light.”Daren sometimes goes for a walk holding a cloth over his left eye as it waters severely.He walks in empty places and carries a card in case someone tries to talk to him.”I am unable to communicate with anyone when I am going through an attack,” he said. Daren said that recently his attacks were becoming more frequent and lasting longer. Last May he spent two nights in the A&E department at the Royal Infirmary in Edinburgh after two attacks, each lasting 12 hours.”These attacks where excruciating and the worst attacks I have ever experienced,” he said.What are cluster headaches? Image source, Doug Armand/ Getty ImagesCluster headaches are rare, affecting about one in 1,000 people – an estimated 65,000 people in the UK. But it’s a misnomer for a condition that is “so much more than a headache”, according to Katie Martin, Brain Research UK research manager. “As Daren has described, the excruciating pain of a cluster attack is unbearable, leaving people screaming in pain, and banging their heads off walls to try to end the agony.”We’re funding desperately-needed research to accelerate our understanding of the condition, towards the development of new treatments that will provide effective relief for all those affected.”Sufferers are normally over the age of 30, and the headaches are more common in men than woman. The frequency of attacks may vary from one attack every few days to multiple attacks per day. Each attack may range from 15 minutes to several hours.They cause multiple admissions to hospital, restricting people’s lifestyles and often leading to unemployment. They are also associated with a threefold increase in risk of depression and suicidal tendencies are often reported.There is no cure. Daren had his first episode in 2007 when he was 37. “I was on holiday with my family in Prague when I got a got a headache that was so severe I thought there was something seriously wrong with me like a brain tumour,” the father-of-two said.He has since been prescribed medication including steroids, lithium, heart medication and epilepsy tablets.”I don’t have epilepsy but they are trying everything on me but nothing works.”I also have an injection which I can use as soon as an attack comes on, which sometimes works.”Daren has oxygen canisters in his house, which he uses to try to stabilise an attack.He has tried different diets and cutting out smoking and alcohol but continues to have the crippling headaches.Read more stories from Edinburgh, Fife and East ScotlandDo you have a story from Edinburgh, Fife and east Scotland to share with BBC News?”The next step is I’m going to have a nerve block injected into my head,” he said. The local anaesthetic numbs the nerves in the short term. The steroid reduces inflammation. It can reduce attacks for up to a year.”I’m willing to take the risks of having this because these suicide headaches severely affect my life,” he said. “They destroy everything and I can’t do anything when the attacks happen.”It put pressure on my marriage and was part of the reason for my divorce and I feel awful for my kids growing up hearing my screams.”Daren has read some evidence to suggest cluster headaches can be caused by meningitis – which he had when he was two and again when he was 12 years old.For now he has to live with them.”It does it when it wants, I have no control over it. When it comes for you, it gets you,” he said.Find more information and support about suicide and feelings of despair at BBC Action Line. Around the BBCBBC Radio 4 – Inside Health, Braintraining and dementia; Cluster headaches; Cancer rehab; #hellomynameisRelated Internet LinksCluster headaches – NHSNational Library of MedicineBrain Research UKThe BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.

Published4 hours agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingImage source, Nicki BainBy Angie BrownBBC Scotland, Edinburgh and East reporterAngus Bain has suffered debilitating epileptic fits every Christmas for the past 13 years. But this year the 17-year-old is hoping to have a seizure-free festive season, after undergoing life-changing laser brain surgery just 11 weeks ago.After years of enduring almost weekly attacks, they appear to have been virtually eliminated by the pioneering procedure. “I’ve never had such a long period not having a seizure, it’s an amazing relief. I’m so happy,” Angus told BBC Scotland News. “Christmas is a big occasion and now it will be even bigger this year.”Being able to have this surgery is amazing. I think it could change my life forever by making me able to do the things I haven’t been able to do.”Image source, Nicki BainAngus, who lives in Gateside, Fife, was diagnosed with epilepsy when he was four years old. His seizures are so severe they leave him wiped out for days afterwards. In October a piece of his brain that causes the attacks was removed by laser at the Royal Hospital for Children and Young People in Edinburgh. It will take a year before he can come off the strong medication he is on so his brain recovers from the surgery but it is hoped he will then be seizure-free.His mum, Nicki Bain, 48, said: “Our lives have been consumed with Angus’s epilepsy since he was four. He has been on lots of very heavy medication, had wires in his head, brain stimulation, so many tests and scans. “The build-up to him having a seizure would last a few days, then after the seizure it would take another couple of days for him to recover, so I don’t think he’s ever actually had a normal day.”He would say, ‘I just want to get rid of my epilepsy and get on with my life’.”Image source, Nicki BainAngus, a pupil at Strathallan School in Perthshire, said that, although it’s early days, he was daring to dream he could go skiing. It was previously deemed too dangerous for him to ride on a chairlift. “In the past it made me feel a bit annoyed and upset that it was holding me back and keeping me from doing sport especially rugby,” he said. “And I might also be able to become a singer now, I’d love to do that as a career and to be able to get my driver’s licence, something I’ve not been allowed to apply for as my seizures were too bad.”I wish I could go to parties with my friends. I see photos of all my friends together and I am jealous that I can’t go but they can.”But it’s just been too risky for me with all the seizures I have had.”Image source, Nicki BainThe pioneering new technology is MRI-guided Laser Interstitial Thermal Therapy (LITT) surgery – which can reach the centre of the brain.Edinburgh Children’s Hospital Charity said The Welch Trust bought the £140,000 equipment, which costs £15,000 a year to maintain.Nicki, from Gateside, said: “The process was absolutely mind-blowing and recovery was fast. You’d never know he’d had brain surgery. “It’s extraordinary that this surgery is now available in Scotland. It’s going to change so many lives. “For the past 13 years, Angus has had seizures at Christmas time. I can’t even put into words what it means to him, and all our family, for him to be seizure-free for Christmas this year.”He’s a remarkable boy who has shown so much resilience. His future is looking so bright, and we’re incredibly proud and excited for him.” Image source, Nicki BainDr Jothy Kandasamy, consultant neurosurgeon at the hospital, said: “For some patients, by replacing invasive neurosurgery with cutting-edge laser therapy, we not only dramatically reduce risks to these patients, but significantly reduce their recovery time too. “The laser surgery is a breakthrough for some patients and will give some patients with epilepsy a real chance to live a normal life.”The surgery has been life-changing not just for Angus, but for the entire family.”These experiences are what drive me. My patients motivate and inspire me to provide the highest level of neurosurgical care possible to change young people’s lives.”Image source, Nicki BainTo qualify for the laser surgery patients must go through months of scans and tests. They must also have continued having seizures despite being on anti-epilepsy medication.Roslyn Neely, chief executive officer of Edinburgh Children’s Hospital Charity, said: “We are encouraged by the life-changing impact that the laser surgery has had for Angus, and his whole family.”What an incredible difference this will make to his future, and that of others living with epilepsy who can now go on to have the surgery.”Angus said he now cannot wait for Christmas adding: “I feel like this is a happy ending because I have been through a lot.”Related Internet LinksEdinburgh Children’s Hospital CharityThe Welch TrustThe BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.

Published3 hours agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingImage source, Liz MelvinBy Angie BrownBBC Scotland NewsJim Melvin is recovering from throat cancer – but he and wife Liz are also having to deal with the emotional and financial costs of battling the disease.Retired taxi driver Jim, from East Kilbride, had to have a tracheotomy 18 months ago because of his radiotherapy treatment.That has left him with anxiety, while having to adapt to the physical impact of the surgical hole in his neck.And there is also a financial cost for the couple. Liz says they have to cut back on some of their weekly shopping to afford the things they need.Jim, 71, has three or four boxes of ice lollies a week to soothe his dry throat.Their weekly bill for tissues, which are needed to mop up saliva from the tracheotomy, has increased by £15.40 a week.In total, they are spending £52 a week on tissues and ice lollies.”It’s hard to afford these things. It sounds strange, but it all adds up,” said Liz, a retired office assistant.”Instead I cut a loaf of bread from the shopping and buy two pints of milk instead of four, things like that.”Image source, Liz MelvinThey also have to buy clothing which is wide enough for Jim’s breathing tube.”It also costs a lot to buy new tops all the time and I’m washing them all the time too, which costs a lot in laundry bills.”Liz was speaking to BBC Scotland on behalf of her husband as it is difficult for him to talk.Jim was diagnosed with oesophageal cancer after going to the doctor with a hoarse voice in March 2021, thinking he had a cold.He had radiotherapy every day for six weeks.Liz said this had made him anxious because he felt very claustrophobic in the plastic head mask that covered his head and shoulders. “We thought he was having panic attacks in the evenings after the daily radiotherapy sessions. “I would play him calming music but then the doctor saw on a scan his airway was closed and rushed him into hospital.”The side effects of radiotherapy can be that your airway closes up so you need to get a tracheotomy.”It was frightening for him not being able to breathe.”Image source, Liz MelvinJim uses up to 200 tissues a day to wipe away saliva.”It can be embarrassing for him as it can come out unexpectedly,” said Liz.”Jim suffers from anxiety as a result. At first he thought it was just happening to him, but now he’s found out it happens to everyone with a tracheotomy.”Father-of-three Jim is now recovering from throat cancer.Liz said: “We can’t say he’s over it until five years have passed, but the doctor says there are no lumps and bumps there now.”All this has been very bad for his mental health, it’s made him very anxious.”She added: “I’m glad Jim has survived, he’s come through a lot.”The worst he’s been through before this was man flu, so it’s been an horrendous step for him – but he’s getting there.”Dame Laura Lee, chief executive of cancer charity Maggie’s, said the unexpected additional costs of cancer could be as much as £900 a month for some people.”That then takes a toll on mental health, leading to increased anxiety and depression,” she said.”These hidden costs have always been there, but they are compounded by the drop in income that usually comes with a diagnosis and the current cost of living crisis.”Coping with the cost of cancer is far harder today.”Related Internet LinksMaggie’sThe BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.

Published8 hours agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingImage source, Sean CrawfordBy Angie BrownBBC Scotland, Edinburgh and East reporterSean Crawford cried when he saw the trailer for new Hollywood film The Whale.He says the movie about a reclusive English teacher with severe obesity, played by Brendan Fraser, resonated with his life.Mirroring the plot of the film, Sean rapidly gained weight after someone close to him died. He now weighs 30 stone (190kg).The father-of-one from Athelstaneford in East Lothian says the film has given a voice to people in his situation.And he says there are many similarities between his life and that of the film’s lead character, Charlie.”He instructs a class from behind a computer because he is ashamed of his weight, I hid away from things because I was ashamed of mine,” said Sean.Brendan Fraser caps comeback with Oscar nominationThe Whale review- ‘Brendan Fraser deserves an Oscar'”The main focus is making sure our daughters turn out to be good human beings just in case we aren’t there to see them grow up.”I think people need to realise big people are human beings.”Image source, AlamySean says health and depression are among the issues that can lead to weight gain.He said: “I often get adults looking at me in disgust, kids stare and make comments – but I understand this is the innocence of youth.”I so often hear people talk about the likes of anorexia and bulimia with a degree of sympathy, whereas obesity is frowned upon.”Both are illnesses at the end of the day.”Sean said he had been a confident person before he started gaining weight.One of his best friends passed away in 2019, then two months later he took voluntary redundancy from his role as a maintenance supervisor after 12 years in the job.This was followed by the Covid lockdown, and he ended up out of work for a few years.In this time he became a bit of a hermit – and put on 12 stones (76kg) in 18 months.Image source, Sean Crawford”My doctor said if there was an award for putting on weight in the shortest space of time then he would give it to me,” said Sean.”I neglected my life and spent 99.9% of my time watching TV, eating and drinking fizzy juice.”I don’t sleep much so I have 18 to 19 hours a day to do this.”He went from working with 200 people every day to sitting on his own in his house.Sean said he gave up – particularly during lockdown, when he found the isolation very stressful.He started getting back pains and it became too painful to walk.He tried to find out how much he weighed, but there were no scales big enough at his doctor’s surgery.Image source, Sean CrawfordHe eventually got weighed at the hospital, and found that he weighed 30 stone (190kg).”It was soul destroying and I lost all my confidence,” he said.At the end of 2020, when his vacuum cleaner broke and he did not have enough money to replace it, a friend gave him a number for the charity DadsWork, which is funded by the National Lottery Community Fund.The community project in East Lothian provides support groups, positive parenting classes, workshops on the role of fathers, home visits, trips and outings for fathers and their children.They gave him a vacuum cleaner and told him about drop-in groups and workshops he could attend with his daughter.Sean, who is 5ft 11ins , said: “I didn’t know what they did but after meeting them I’ve seen them just about every week since.”I started going to their drop-in groups and it was great to meet other dads and hear their stories and what they were struggling with.”These sessions helped normalise struggles of fatherhood to me and now I realise that I’m not alone – and not the only one who may feel that they don’t know what they’re doing all of the time.”Image source, Sean CrawfordSean said this had made him a better dad.He also now has a job volunteering as a supervisor in a food bank.”DadsWork have really helped me be more productive with the time I spend with my daughter too,” he added.He said they now do “all sorts of things together” and had been supported with swimming passes.”My daughter loves it and it’s helping me get into shape and get my confidence back,” he said.Kevin Young, project manager of DadsWork, said the organisation was there to offer support.He said: “Sean has made a remarkable turnaround. When we first met him he was low in confidence and self esteem and wouldn’t go out.”We have spent a lot of time building our relationship with him to establish trust.”He has gone from the vacuum cleaner, which was a small thing but huge thing for his family, to engaging with us hugely.”Image source, Sean CrawfordNow Sean feels in a better place and hopes to lose weight so he can meet a new partner.”I hate being on my own and I hate being lonely,” he said. “I’m in a terrible place with my weight and hate having my picture taken or looking at myself.”But now I’m working again I feel ready to lose weight.”He also wants to see The Whale at the cinema.”I’m desperate to see it,” he added. “I ended up in tears when I watched the trailer, I related to it so much. “I couldn’t tell you the last time I wanted to see a film at the cinema but this one massively ties into my situation.”I empathise with him and it also gives a voice to people in my position.”He is a teacher and is helping society. It shows people benefitting from his life, as normally overweight people are hidden away and are not given the credit they are due.”Related Internet LinksDadsWorkThe BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.

SharecloseShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingImage source, Katherine CrowsonA year after she had been diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 29, Katherine Crowson was wondering when she could start dating again.The management consultant, from Edinburgh, was still undergoing chemotherapy and radiotherapy.But she wanted to know when she would get her life back.”I was Googling at 3am when I found a journal article. I remember seeing lots of responses from people saying they wouldn’t mind dating someone who had had cancer but they would prefer for them to have finished treatment,” she said.”I remembered thinking that was so rubbish.”She initially decided to postpone her thoughts of dating – but a few weeks later she changed her mind and made a profile on a dating app.Image source, Katherine Crowson”The next dilemma was what picture to use on my dating profile, because my hair was only a centimetre long as I was getting chemo,” said Katherine, who is now aged 32.”I had been wearing long blonde wigs but normally I had long brown hair.”The long hair was not who I currently was but I didn’t want cancer to be my defining feature either by using the short hair pictures.”She ended up using a selection of photographs for her profile, but not saying she had cancer.Katherine said she felt “a bit deceitful” in the early stages of communicating with people, because she wasn’t giving them the full story.But when she moved to messaging people directly outside the dating app, she would tell them she had cancer.Image source, Katherine Crowson”I told them they could pull out and just to stop texting me if me having cancer was a problem for them,” she said.”But nobody was upset by it. It’s all about how you present yourself.”It’s your attitude by not presenting it as an issue or a problem – I wasn’t recruiting for a carer.”Katherine spent a year living in her father’s house after her cancer diagnosis, but moved out in the spring of 2021.She was still on the dating app when she moved into a flat which was being shared with two men.When she viewed the property, she explained that she had cancer and asked if that would be a problem.New flatmateAngus MacPhail, 30, who was one of her new flatmates, said: “We said no and agreed she could move in.”He was using the same dating app as Katherine, and later that night he liked a picture on it.Katherine then replied to say that she was his new flatmate.”I was mortified and wanted the ground to swallow me up,” said Angus.”When she had viewed the flat she had short hair and a mask on, but in the pictures she had long hair.”Katherine met someone else who was “very understanding”, but they broke up in September just as she was finishing her chemotherapy. Angus then asked her out, and she said yes.Image source, Angus MacPhail”Katherine and I have a very open communication, we speak a lot, we became best friends and then started dating,” Angus said.”My parents and sister have had cancer. It affects everyone, so it was never an issue for me when we started dating.”It’s been hard to help her through cancer but it’s entirely worth it.”Angus gets free counselling at cancer charity, Maggie’s in Edinburgh.Katherine diagnosed with stage 3, HER-2 positive and hormone negative breast cancer in March 2020. She had found a small lump in her armpit and went to the doctor, who found a larger lump in her breast.”I really freaked out when the GP referred me to the breast clinic,” she said.Image source, Katherine CrowsonAndrew Anderson, centre head at cancer charity, Maggie’s Edinburgh said: “Relationships in the middle of a cancer diagnosis can be challenging but even more so when you are embarking on a new relationship. We would encourage people to prioritise self and recovery while being open to new relationships.”The impact of cancer can feel very changing and it is really important to give time to recuperate and recovery for you and then look at what you need in a new relationship.”Once you have taken that time, look forward healthily to what opportunities are there for you.”Katherine continues to have preventative treatment, including monthly injections and six-monthly infusions to strengthen her bones.Her eggs have been frozen and her ovaries shut down for three years.”I’ll just have to wait to see if I will still be able to have a child,” she said.”There are many other things that tell me that I’m not just back to normal.”My heart rate goes up from any physical exertion – even from running – then my arms go numb.”That’s a side-effect from my treatment, but there are lot of things like this that I’m having to get used to.”However, she added: “Coming out of cancer treatment makes you feel that you need to embrace life and live life to the fullest.”Because I’ve had cancer and spent 18 months on cancer treatment I want to say ‘yes’ to everything.”Related Internet LinksMaggie’s EdinburghThe BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.

SharecloseShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingImage source, Julie NicholsonOne weekend last year, Julie Nicholson started turning “golden yellow” but she was unaware that she had a dangerous medical condition.The 52-year-old, from Armadale in West Lothian, says her husband noticed it first and they put it down to her being dehydrated from working 15-hour days so she started to drink lots of water.”I didn’t feel ill, but the next day in the shower I could see my skin was yellow and my kids were saying my skin looked a funny colour,” she says.The following day she called her doctor and they arranged for her to have blood tests.She says: “As soon as I saw the doctor, she noticed straight away I was yellow. “By now I had turned Marge Simpson yellow, I could have played her in a stage show, I was that yellow. It was so scary.”Image source, FOXStill unaware of how serious her condition was, Julie went home where she continued working as a data privacy officer for drinks giant Diageo. “I was in a Zoom meeting the following day when my phone wouldn’t stop ringing, so eventually I thought I had better answer it,” she says.”It was my doctor and she was saying I had to report immediately to the medical centre.”Julie was then sent to hospital as staff said she was turning more yellow by the minute.She had an ultrasound and a CT scan, which found a blockage in her bile duct.”They said you have a tumour, it’s probably cancer and where it is we have to operate,” Julie says.Bile ductsImage source, Getty ImagesThe bile ducts are a series of thin tubes that go from the liver to the small intestine.Their main job is to allow a fluid called bile to go from the liver and gallbladder into the small intestine, where it helps digest the fats in food.A whipple procedure is a complex operation to remove the head of the pancreas, the first part of the small intestine, the gallbladder and the bile duct.If left untreated, bile duct obstructions can lead to life-threatening infections.Medicine called Creon is taken by the patient once the bile duct has been removed to help them digest food.Intensive careJulie says: “They told me it was a dangerous whipple operation and of the death rate on the operating table.”My dad was with me, as I hadn’t wanted to bother my husband at work, and he went pure white.”Half of her pancreas, the gall bladder and bile duct and some of her small intestine were removed.She lost two-and-a-half stones in weight and was in hospital, including intensive care, for a month.Her daughter had given birth to her first grandchild, Havanah May, so she wanted to convalesce at home.Image source, Julie NicholsonJulie says her husband saved her life by noticing she was turning yellow.Keith, a forklift driver, said: “When I noticed Julie’s eyes were going awful yellow I immediately put it down to the hours she works and told her she must be dehydrated.”She’s working when I go to work and is still working when I return from my shift.”But the next day she was even yellower, despite drinking water, and her skin was a golden colour. We didn’t know what it was, it was weird what was happening to her.”You hear of things like this happening to other people but you never think it’s going to happen in your own household.”Julie started turning yellow in March 2020. She had an operation and then several rounds of chemotherapy and could not walk without a Zimmer frame. Her husband had to wash her and took three months off work to care for her.Since then, Julie has undergone intervention for serious wounds after her operation.She only started recovering back to full strength in the summer 2021.Image source, Julie NicholsonIn August, she completed a 134-mile (216km) walk of the whole John Muir Way from Helensburgh on the west coast of Scotland to Dunbar on the east coast.But although she had reached full strength, she still had a lot of anxiety about what had happened.”That’s when I visited Maggie’s Centre and they have been helping me so much. I can speak to them about everything and they don’t take notes,” Julie says.She will continue to be regularly monitored at the hospital.Lesley Howells, lead psychologist for Maggie’s centre, said: “Regardless of prognosis, life post-treatment can be hugely challenging.”Friends and family might be clapping their hands and saying ‘great, normal service resumed’, but for the person who has been through the treatment they might feel as if their life has been turned upside down and shaken around.”Julie’s husband Keith says: “It was very lucky Julie changed colour or we would never have known something was wrong as she didn’t feel any different. It let us know something wasn’t right here.”