The tumour was cauterised and, after staying in hospital for a few days, Culling thought her health problems were over – until blood tests uncovered problems with her thyroid.
Culling had Graves’ disease, an autoimmune condition causing an overactive thyroid, which can lead to symptoms like anxiety, weight loss, tremor and rapid heart rate.
“I thought ‘not again, why me’, why do I have two things going on while I’m doing my GCSEs, like isn’t the tumour hard enough?,” said Culling.
After trying different medications, she was put on steroids – which made her gain weight.
“My mindset was a real lack of self belief, I’d lost my confidence, I was really struggling with self image, I was really stressed at school, I wasn’t achieving the grades I wanted to,” she added.
“I was really struggling with panic attacks, just putting pressure on myself to get better.”
