Doctor Tells 42-Year-Old Man His Stiff Neck Resulted From Long Hours of Calls on Zoom, and Now He Is Diagnosed With Inoperable Brain Tumor

42-year-old Gary Nelson, who was told doing calls via the Zoom app during the lockdown, maybe the reason for his neck pain, has reportedly been left devastated after learning he has a brain tumor that's inoperable.

Nelson started to suffer aches and pains while he was working remotely for long hours during the pandemic earlier this year.

Nelson, a marketing manager, got in touch with his doctor and was told that his discomfort might be related to posture, resulting from excessive use of laptops and too many time-making calls via Zoom.

However, after his vision worsened, Nelson was referred for further tests, which exposed the shocking diagnosis-reports said, "he had an aggressive tumor on his brain stem."

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A Result of Radiotherapy He Received in His Childhood

Unfortunately, this finding was possibly a result of the radiotherapy Nelson received for what he described as a "low-grade tumor" then, as a kid.

The Chester-based 42-year-old will now go through chemotherapy as, according to reports, a surgery would leave him paralyzed from his waist down, and radiotherapy could result in brain damage.

According to his wife, 40-year-old Amy, a charity worker, Nelson has had two brain tumors before, although both were operable, "and he went on to recover well."

Amy also said another diagnosis for a brain tumor was the last thing they expected, as they were reassured that he might have spent longer screen time doing Zoom calls.

A High-Grade Tumor

Nelson had some rest, his wife said, and it indeed helped alleviate the aches and pain for a short period, although a couple of weeks after, things worsened. He started to experience blurred vision that sent him for MRI scans.

Amy added, because of the COVID-19 restrictions, the marketing manager had to be on his own when he got his test results. The wife described her husband as "brave."

As she was sitting in the car park and listening on the phone, the wife recalled, when the doctor informed them about the news that they had identified "a shadow" in his husband's brain stem.

The couple later found out that Gary's tumor is high-grade, "And it was devastating," said Amy.

The most common environmental risk factor for brain tumors is radiation exposure, particularly if used for cancer treatment in the past.

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Prior Tumor Diagnoses

Following his childhood tumor, Gary was diagnosed with another at age 34 while he was residing in Dubai after he experienced similar symptoms to the ones he experienced as a child.

He started to lose his sense of touch and struggled to accomplish basic tasks like tying his shoelaces or fastening his belt.

As a result, the 42-year-old was referred to the American Hospital within a couple of days; he underwent life-threatening surgery for the removal of the tumor.

His surgery was successful even though he was told there was a big chance he would be "left in a vegetative condition" or would not survive.

Following his return to England, in August last year, regular MRI scans identified regrowth of the tumor, and Gary started six-week radiotherapy.

This was the last time the said treatment could be offered to the patient as he had reached his limit lifetime limit of the radiotherapy treatment.

Meaning, his treatment options for the brainstem glioma tumor discovered in April this year are not now limited.

In September, they were joined by friends from within the United Kingdom, as they took part in an "11K Walk of Hope" in Chester. 

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