Woman discovered terrifying health condition after looking through holiday snaps

08 January 2024 , 01:14

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Shari's smile was a sign of something sinister (Image: Shari Dawson)

A Melbourne woman who had always had an overbite noticed something wasn't right in holiday snaps from a recent trip to Europe before discovering that her face was changing.

Looking at the joyful snaps, she realized her smile was starting to look different and her jaw had been hurting. “I would slowly notice that my top and bottom teeth would be able touch each other, whereas I would never be able to do that before,” Shari said. “Slowly as the years went on, it has just become quite a big under bite.”

This surprising change paired with chronic pain left Shari with questions. She saw a doctor about her jaw, and began to see physiotherapists and chiropractors as her knees began to ache and her joints began to swell.

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Now she wants to raise more awareness (Shari Dawson)

She began getting headaches, which were attributed to her jaw pain and she was left with more questions than answers. “As these things popped up, I would go to a different health professional for that thing – at no time was sort of all the puzzle pieces put together,” she told news.com.au.

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But then things took a serious turn. She was rushed into surgery and she realized what had been happening for almost a decade. Shari had been out, hanging with friends the night before, sitting around the fire having fun, but she woke up feeling like her head was exploding. She was used to migraines so she wasn’t immediately alarmed but what came next was terrifying.

She began vomiting and “the doctor told my partner, Chris, that if I didn’t stop vomiting I had to go to the hospital,” she said. She did but it continued for days.

Something in her smile had changed (Shari Dawson)

She was diagnosed with meningitis and chills before an MRI revealed she had a pituitary tumor, which is a tumor on the gland below the brain and above the nasal passages. She had a rare condition called acromegaly because of the tumor so her growth hormone was in overdrive - a condition made famous by Andre The Giant.

She began to go blind in her left eye, and was rushed into emergency surgery. While they thought that surgeons had removed everything, Shari found out there was a residual tumor in an area that was inoperable so she was put on medication, but she suffered extreme side effects such as hair loss and severe nausea.

The pair are eager to have a baby (Shari Dawson)

“It’s quite limiting because you know I had to get them done by a GP every four weeks so I couldn’t really do to anything, like go on long holidays that I used to love doing,” she said.

She passionately sprung into action to raise awareness, as she was feeling so isolated and reached out to the Australian Pituitary Foundation for advice. Shari was only 29, but most people are diagnosed with this disease in their 40s. She really wanted to know if she and Chris could have a family. Luckily the couple still have hope. She said the is now trying to have a baby through IVF.

Brave Shari is now the general manager of the Australian Pituitary Foundation, and shared that she knew nothing about acromegaly before she was diagnosed. She knew of gigantism, which typically occurs in children, and just assumed it was a genetic condition. She added that she wanted to spread awareness about the condition and help people get diagnosed earlier.

Imy Brighty-Potts