I blamed Botox for my face swelling — it was a terminal illness instead

When Jill Kenton experienced dryness in her left eye and slight face swelling last fall, she assumed they were side effects of Botox injections she had received a few months earlier.

As her symptoms persisted — and she noticed a clicking sound — she sought medical help. The British mom was devastated by the diagnosis: Left sphenoid wing intraosseous meningioma.

She was reportedly told the rare brain tumor would require extensive surgery in November 2021. Kenton, now 52, seemed shocked to discover she had had the tumor for 10 years, and she was petrified by the road ahead.

“Last Christmas was a dreadful time for me,” she told SWNS. “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.”

In the end, the voiceover actor decided to get a second opinion — which resulted in her forgoing the surgery in favor of regular scans and vision checks instead.

“It turned out I had a brain tumor, which was 6 by 5 centimeters … growing behind my eye, crushing the optical nerve as it pushed through my skull,” explained Kenton, who had moved from London to the British countryside shortly before her diagnosis. “Mercifully, it was slow-growing.”

She said the “brutal” procedure would have involved a medical professional cutting across her head from ear to ear and removing a piece of her skull to access the diseased area.

After removing the tumor, “a plate would be fitted to cover my skull, and my eye socket would be rebuilt with bone from another part of my head,” she revealed. “They would endeavor to save my sight, but there was no guarantee.”

A year after deciding against the surgery, Kenton showed off her positive attitude.

“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 hopes it will be helpful to other people,” Kenton said, adding that it’s important to raise awareness around brain tumors.

“The simple fact is, if there isn’t significant investment in research to improve treatment options and help find a cure, the outlook for me and so many others could remain bleak,” she concluded.