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A woman with a rare non-cancerous brain tumor says the dangerous condition often causes her to strip down to her underwear in public.
42-year-old Leanne Lyon was diagnosed with hypothalamic hamartoma—a small benign tumor in the brain that causes seizures, blackouts, and memory loss—more than a decade ago.
Although she underwent a temporal lobectomy to have part of her brain removed to fix the problem, Lyon says the surgery has only made things worse.
Now Lyon has at least five episodes a day, which often cause her to blackout, wet her pants, take off her clothes, or a combination of all three.
Stripping down in public and wetting her pants are side effects that have greatly embarrassed Lyons’ two children, ages 6 and 9.
Worst of all, Lyon never actually remembers any of these episodes since they only happen during a blackout.
“It's terrifying - not to mention dangerous - living like this,” Lyon said, The Daily Mail reported. “Once, I got onto a bus during a blackout and when I came round I had no idea where I was.”
“I also am often incontinent when I have my seizures, which is excruciating. I had to wear adult nappies for a while,” she continued. “I can't go out for a night out with friends because I'm terrified I might have an episode.”
After suffering through so many humiliating experiences since she was diagnosed at 29, Lyon is desperately hoping to get a revolutionary keyhole surgery in the U.S.
“The tumour is only about the size of a little fingernail, it's incredible that something so small can cause so much damage,” she said. “The seizures completely take over my life - they're not what people think of as a 'normal' seizure, so when it happens in public people don't understand.”
The debilitating condition has forced Lyon to quit working, and her husband is only a shoe salesman, so the family is hoping to raise enough money for the life-changing surgery on their GoGetFunding page.
