Kent Teacher Recovering After Private MRI Reveals Benign Brain Tumour

She says difficulty getting concerns taken seriously led her to pay for a scan that accelerated diagnosis and surgery.

Overview

After migraines worsened from October 2024 with visual disturbances, speech loss and blackouts, Nikita Sterling sought private imaging when she struggled to secure effective GP help.
An April MRI in Maidstone costing £400 prompted an urgent call to attend A&E, with results sent to Medway Hospital showing a large frontal lobe mass.
She was referred to King’s College Hospital, where surgeons removed the tumour in a four-hour operation on April 22; pathology confirmed a benign meningioma and doctors said it was fully excised.
Sterling reports greater fatigue but fewer migraines, awaits a routine six‑month post‑op scan, and plans a phased return to teaching from September.
She is urging patients to advocate for themselves and highlights the inequality of access when private scans speed care, while her husband fundraises in October for The Brain Tumour Charity.