Doctors said my headaches were stress. I had a tennis ball tumor

As finals season rolled around, Gillian Keating was blindsided with headaches so severe that she was overcome with nausea and thought she would pass out from the pain. The 21-year-old college student from Virginia visited her doctor in December 2025 searching for answers, but she claimed they told her it was 'probably stress headaches' from her workload. After experiencing several more migraines, Keating visited another doctor while home for Christmas break. 'I'd never had headaches before in my life,' she said. 'I thought that was weird, and then progressively I kept having episodes of migraines where I couldn't even move or breathe. I just had to lay in the dark and my head was shaking.' That doctor ordered an MRI scan in January 2026, which revealed a two-inch brain tumor, about the size of a tennis ball. The tumor was benign, meaning non-cancerous, but doctors told Keating to 'go to the emergency room immediately' because it was pressing on her left frontal cortex - the part of the brain sitting just behind the forehead that is responsible for executive function, motor control and language. She was forced to undergo a six-hour craniotomy - in which part of the skull was removed - to cut out the tumor. If left untreated, pressure on this area can result in significant personality changes, cognitive impairments and reduced motor function. Doctors suspected the tumor had been slowly growing over the course of three or four years. 'I was stunned. That was the last thing that I would have expected,' Keating said. Keating is one of the 67,000 Americans diagnosed with benign brain tumors every year, while 1 million are currently living with a brain tumor, according to the National Brain Tumor Society. It's unclear what may have caused her growth to form, but benign brain tumors are often caused by genetic conditions or mutations, hormonal imbalances and environmental hazards such as radiation. 'I was scared and worried about the surgery. I didn't know coming out of it how I would act... or if there would be neurological effects.' Doctors were able to remove the entire tumor, but recommended Keating complete radiation therapy to ensure it does not grow back, which she is currently waiting to start. Keating, who was living away at college when her symptoms started, has now had to postpone her graduation to later this year, as well as a job that she had lined up for afterward. 'It's crazy that what I thought was college stress got to this point, and I had to undergo massive surgery,' she said. 'I was supposed to graduate in spring and I had a job lined up. Now I'm in a situation where I have to do another semester at school and take time off. 'That's just the mental kick of it - and not being able to be with my support team, my school, my friends and having to take life slowly.' Keating is now using her experience to encourage other young people to seek care immediately if they sense something odd, even if they are dismissed by doctors. 'I'm a full time college student so there's obviously stress from that, but I didn't think it could cause that big a medical issue,' she said. The student added that it's important to always 'trust your gut' and seek a second opinion if you're not satisfied. 'If I hadn't kept asking and going to the doctor with the pain, then I wouldn't know I had a tumor,' she said. 'You need to keep asking your doctors and pushing for it, and they need to listen to you.'