A former Big Brother contestant has announced that she’s been diagnosed with a brain tumour following an MRI scan recently.
Charlie Doherty, 39 – who appeared on the show in 2016 – shared the news on Instagram on Thursday. She wrote: “So I received some rubbish news this week… I have been having some ongoing issues which has gone on a while and I pushed for an MRI which has resulted in them finding a brain tumour.”
Speculating about the potential cause, she said: “I have been researching and finding out as much as I can and I basically wanted to share awareness that this is happening more and more and to younger people, I don’t know if this was caused by environmental factors but if I was to hazard a guess it could be from mobile phone use in my right ear for a number of years/ sunbeds / nightclubs in loud music. That’s obviously just speculation as I don’t know enough about it yet. Other than it’s rare and does have treatment options.”
She added: “If anyone knows or has had this kind of tumour please let me know best treatments to be looked at and any advice you can give. To me this is a very alien subject scary and quite frankly shocking. The tumour is called an acoustic neuroma.”
Charlie concluded the post by writing: “Sorry to share such a negative list but I am very health conscious and worried. And any information people can give me (as well as the professionals) is all appreciated right now. Love and peace.”
Charlie Doherty has told fans that she’s been diagnosed with a brain tumour (
Image:
Instagram)
She is best known for having been a housemate on Channel 5’s Big Brother in 2016 (
Image:
Channel 5/PA Wire)
According to the NHS, an acoustic neuroma is a type of non-cancerous, also referred to as benign, brain tumour that is also known as a vestibular schwannoma. It notes: “Acoustic neuromas tend to affect adults aged 30 to 60 and usually have no obvious cause.” The health body states that treatment can include brain surgery and stereotactic radiosurgery. It further states that symptoms include hearing loss, tinnitus and vertigo.
Following her post, Charlie was met with well-wishes from followers on Instagram. One person wrote: “I’m so sorry. That must be incredibly scary. Sending you love.” Another said: “Hope you’re ok lovely.” A third commented: “Sending you lots of love and positive healing.”
Someone reacted: “Sending love. Scary news but you’ve got this.” Another person said: “Oh my goodness. How awful. Sending lots of love.” One follower responded to her post: “Sorry to hear this Charlie. Sending healing & love.”
Charlie is best known for having been a housemate on Big Brother in 2016, when it was broadcast by Channel 5. She got more than halfway through the series but was evicted over four weeks into the experience. The series was won by Jason Burrill and other housemates included Lateysha Grace and Andrew Tate.
