A SINGLE mother who has suffered a brain tumour and 20 years of “debilitating” migraines has found relief in mosaic art.

Amanda Gallagher, 50, of Caernarvon Road, Barkingside, has had to cope with flash migraines and constant headaches for the last 20 years.

After four years of the excruciating head pain, doctors diagnosed Ms Gallagher with a pituitary brain tumour in 2001.

She said: “It was terrifying.

“Although the kind of tumour I had is easier to treat than others, it was still a brain tumour, and with a little baby and three-year-old to support it was a very difficult time.”

After three months of intensive radiotherapy at Whipps Cross Hospital in Leytonstone Ms Gallagher was finally given the all clear, but was still left battling constant migraines.

She said: “The word migraine is very generic because everyone suffers from them differently.

“It’s very hard to define exactly what triggers them, so it can be incredibly frustrating not knowing why such a horrible thing keeps happening to you.

“They were convinced it was the tumour causing them, but then they kept on happening when it had gone.”

Six years later in 2007 Ms Gallagher also received the devastating news she had Stage 4A Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma and was given a maximum of 10 years to live.

She said: “I’m a bit like a cat with nine lives. They told me I had between five and 10 years left.

“It was truly horrendous, I lost my hair, and even with six months of chemotherapy, nothing was getting any better.

“I was about to go for a stem cell transplant, which would have been the most invasive hell on earth experience, but suddenly my doctor sat me down and told me the cancer had gone.

“It was just unbelievable.”

But instead of being able to celebrate her remission, Ms Gallagher’s migraines persisted, getting so bad in 2012 that she was forced to give up her job.

She said: “The flash migraines last about 30 minutes each. Quite often they are so excruciating you can’t see and then when they’re over the after effects are like being hit by a bus.

“It’s completely disrupted my life. I can’t work. I don’t like driving anymore, and sometimes I get so nervous I end up having panic attacks.”

After a year out of work and with a lot of time on her hands, Ms Gallagher decided she wanted to decorate her kitchen table and collect bits of glass to start a mosaic.

Despite a self-confessed “disastrous” first attempt, she kept going to find the artwork was making her migraines miraculously disappear.

She said: “As soon as I started mosaicking, the pain just vanished, it was like magic.

“Before I knew it I was completely obsessed and I was doing it every single day because for the first time in 17 years I had some kind of relief.

“I can’t explain it, I just couldn’t believe it - it was like some sort of miracle.”

Ms Gallagher says she never thought art therapy could be such a powerful cure, but the intense concentration levels required for her mosaics mean she feels “normal” again.

“The power of the brain is just phenomenal.

“I want to tell as many people as I possibly can, because if this can help me after everything I’ve been through, it can help anyone.

“I can’t even put into words how grateful I am I’ve found this relief and want to help pass that on to other people.”

To get in touch with Amanda about getting involved in mosaicking, you can email her on amandagallagher310@gmail.com.

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