A Sharjah resident who underwent a complex seven-hour surgery to remove a tumour from deep in her brain has been given a new lease of life after going back to work full-time more than a year on.
Eliza Robles, 48, said she is determined to "move forward" on a painstaking road to recovery in which she has spent time in intensive care and completed hours of radiation therapy. Mrs Robles, a Filipina who has lived in the UAE for 27 years, can look to the future with renewed hope while continuing to undergo regular monitoring to ensure the tumour does not return.
“I feel better, I feel great. Sometimes there’s brain fog, but I can manage,” Mrs Robles told The National. Mrs Robles said that her symptoms, which were initially mild headaches, began around five years before she was diagnosed, but intensified and included vomiting and nausea in the final three months before the tumour was identified.
Initially it was thought that she may have sinusitis, migraines or vertigo, but further investigations, including an MRI scan, revealed the tumour. “I was so scared that I got a second opinion. After that second opinion, I had the same diagnosis,” she said.
The tumour Mrs Robles had was a meningioma, a type that arises from the meninges, the membranes that cover the brain and spinal cord.
Challenging surgery
Meningiomas are the most common primary brain tumour (tumours that originate in the brain), but Mrs Robles’s case was more difficult because hers was buried in the brain. Just five to 11 per cent of meningiomas grow in the location in which hers was found.
The tumour, which was compressing important brain structures, was close to the superior sagittal sinus, a channel that is vital for draining blood from the brain, making the surgery riskier.
The surgery, in January 2025, took seven hours and was carried out by Dr Chelladurai Pandian Hariharan, a specialist neurosurgeon at Aster Hospital Al Qusais in Dubai, and Dr Manish Srinivasa Murthy, a specialist anaesthetist who is also the hospital’s medical director.
The skull was opened at the back of the head, and the tumour, which was benign, was partially removed. Then the covering of the brain was repaired and the skull reconstructed. Techniques such as microscope-assisted surgery and ultrasound guidance were used.
“This case was particularly complex because the tumour was located deep within the brain and involved the superior sagittal sinus, one of the major veins responsible for draining blood from the brain,” Dr Hariharan said in a statement.
“Any surgical manipulation in this area carries risks such as significant bleeding, stroke, or brain swelling. With advanced neurosurgical techniques and continuous intraoperative monitoring, we were able to carefully remove the tumour while protecting critical brain structures.”
After the surgery, Mrs Robles, who is married and has a 20-year-old son, Louis Andrei, and a 12-year-old daughter, Ashley Mae, spent three days in intensive care. There was more treatment to come after her discharge from hospital.
“After the surgery the doctor told me they didn’t fully remove the meningioma, so they sent me for 25 sessions of radiation therapy,” she said.
Gruelling journey
Mrs Robles said this phase of treatment, which was completed in July last year, was “exhausting”, because it involved treatment five days a week, with one hour of travel each way between Sharjah and Dubai.
In October last year, about three months after the radiation therapy was completed, she returned to work part-time. Earlier this year she finally went back full-time.
Although almost back to normal, Ms Robles said that she still experiences “brain fog” at times, and she will need continued monitoring in case the tumour should begin growing again. She will be monitored for around five years, with a check-up every two months, an MRI scan every six months and a Pet scan annually.
Mrs Robles said that her faith had been important in helping her through the experience, along with the assistance of her husband, Zalde, her two children, her other family and friends, the medical team at Aster Hospital Al Qusais and the Lifco Group of Companies, where she has worked throughout her time in the UAE.
“I’m feeling better right now compared to last year, but I’m always scared. Right now I’m moving forward … I feel better but not totally [back to normal]. My doctor told me it will take time.”
