Yasmin can feel pounding in her head as she watches Dr. Jones walk into the room, gripping her test results. She can see the look of fear and confusion wash over his face. “I’ve been a doctor for 25 years, and I’ve never seen anything like this before,” he said, his voice calm yet startled.
Yasmin’s heart starts to race, and her headache burns even more now. It was as if somebody had an open flame to her forehead. At first, she thought her headaches were down to stress and tiredness. But she was so wrong. The real reason for her headaches was something truly unimaginable.
For as long as she could remember, Yasmin Smith had always had a spot of wanderlust. From backpacking China in her teen years to cruising around the Bahamas with her husband, Yasmin loved to travel and see the wonderful sights that the world has to offer.
But this budding adventurer had no idea that a trip to the doctors would uncover something truly horrific.
Despite having two kids, Yasmin refused to let this stop her from traveling the world. As soon as her two kids were old enough, she took them along with her on her journey around the globe.
Her two kids loved it – every day they got to see different and exciting things. Their recent trip was to Mexico a few years ago, and everybody loved it. But this thrill-seeker mom was about to have her life turned upside down.
It was in winter when Yasmin woke up with a headache. As soon as she opened her eyes and saw the morning light creep through the windows, she felt a burning sensation in her head.
But, as most mothers are aware, moms don’t have a day off. So instead, she swallowed some pain killers and brushed it off as just tiredness. But she was so wrong.
The headaches had started to last for weeks now, and every morning, like clockwork Yasmin woke up with a pounding in her head.
She had taken all the suitable medication, was drinking plenty of water, and getting at least 7 hours of sleep. So what was the matter? When she finally found out the truth she was frozen in her tracks.
The few weeks of waking up with headaches turned into months, which then turned into a full year. 352 days had gone by, and every single one of those days, Yasmin’s head was bursting with pain.
Little did Yasmin know what was happening inside her brain.
Enough was enough for Yasmin. The burning sensation in her head was becoming too unbearable now. Not to mention her sight was sometimes blurry, which affected her daily mom duties.
Yasmin became helpless and was a shell of herself. She wanted answers, but when Yasmin finally got them she was left feeling sick to her stomach.
Yasmin knew something strange was going on so she bit the bullet and went to visit her local doctor. She arrived and sat in the waiting room, watching the clock on the wall go round and round.
Nothing could have prepared Yasmin for what the doctors were about to uncover.
Yasmin’s name was called out and she walked into Dr. Jones’ office. She sat down and told him about the headaches. Straight away Dr. Jones was concerned.
He swiftly got to work and decided to scan Yasmin’s brain. But what this doctor found, left him lost for words.
Dr. Jones had been a doctor for 25 years. He absolutely loved his job; he knew he was making a difference in someone’s life every time he walked out his front door.
And in all those years, he thought he had seen it all. But he had never seen anything like this before.
Dr. Jones gasped when he saw what was inside Yasmin. You see, the results showed that there was indeed something inside Yasmin. And it was definitely cause for alarm. You see Yasmin had a tapeworm.
And it was growing by the minute.
Dr. Jones told Yasmin the truth and she was devastated and disgusted at what was living inside her. She felt sick to her stomach, she just wanted them out ASAP.
Dr. Jones knew he had to be quick and remove the tapeworms, but hundreds of questions flooded his mind. The main question? How exactly did the tapeworm get in there?
After talking to Yasmin, Dr. Jones concluded that the tapeworm could have been picked during her trip to Mexico two years ago.
You see, Yasmin might have eaten food that was contaminated. But what the doctor was about to tell Yasmin next changed her world.
Normally most parasites just go right through you, but in Yasmin’s case, it was down to pure bad luck that the parasite got into her bloodstream.
As time went by, and as the parasite started to grow, fluid backed up in her brain which caused her headaches. With all this information, Dr. Jones knew he had to get to work. He had to remove the eight tapeworms from Yasmin’s brain.
Dr. Jones swiftly removed the tapeworms and thankfully, albeit a long and stressful surgery, it was successful.
For Yasmin, she was super grateful that this gross and intrusive incident didn’t cost her life. She insists she’s still going to travel the world, but this time, she’ll be eating her own food.
