Botox wasn’t to blame for swelling on my face - it was a brain tumour, says Westoning woman

A voice-over artist who was diagnosed with a brain tumour is working with a charity to help raise awareness of the disease this Christmas.

Jill Kenton – who lives in Westoning – is sharing her harrowing story to help others who may be going through a similar experience.

She is the face of Brain Tumour Research’s Christmas appeal to help raise funds to find a cure.

The 52-year-old – who works as a radio presenter and voice-over artist – had started an exciting new chapter having moved out of London into a new home with her grown-up daughter and was planning to settle down with her partner.

But Jill’s dreams were shattered when 12 months ago, she was told she had a low-grade brain tumour and would need extensive surgery which was high-risk and with no guarantee of success.

In the weeks leading up to her diagnosis, she noticed relatively mild and seemingly unconnected symptoms including dryness in one of her eyes and a clicking sound which could be heard through her headphones as she recorded scripts.

Jill, who has worked with Trinny and Susannah and Gok Wan, said: “I began to notice a slight swelling to the side of my left eye and honestly thought it was probably down to some botox treatment I’d had a few months before – as it turned out, I couldn’t have been more wrong.

“It turned out I had a brain tumour which was six by five centimetres and was growing behind my eye crushing the optical nerve as it pushed through my skull. I was told this rare form of brain tumour – a left sphenoid wing intraosseous meningioma – had been there for 10 years.

“Mercifully it was slow growing but I needed surgery and it was going to be brutal. I would be cut across my head from ear to ear, and a piece of my skull would be removed to get to the diseased area.

"As part of the construction required, a plate would be fitted to cover my skull and my eye socket would be rebuilt with bone from another part of my head. They would endeavour to save my sight but there was no guarantee.”

She added: “Last Christmas was a dreadful time for me. I was facing horrendous surgery and was terrified I wouldn’t come out alive or, if I did survive, I wouldn’t be myself anymore.”

Utterly devastated, the former face of high-end lingerie brand Rigby & Peller packed away the Christmas tree and the decorations and instead included notes to her daughter and partner Paul.

But after getting a second opinion she’s now decided against surgery and is having regular scans and vision checks instead.

She said: “Fortunately, for now, I am in a good place and happy that I was able to take back control.

“The fact of the matter is that there is too little known about this devastating disease and that’s why I am working with the charity Brain Tumour Research in order to share my story in the hope it will be helpful to other people.”

Visit here to make a donation to Brain Tumour Research