Hector Ó hEochagáin has spoken out about undergoing brain surgery during the summer after managing a condition for 15 years.
The TV star and author revealed he ‘had to get a small tumour removed from the brain, from the pituitary’ after it started ‘acting the maggot.’
Opening up about what happened, Hector said he’s ‘happy’ to have had the operation and that he had been keeping the news quiet until recently.
Hector Ó hEochagáint. Pic: Martina Regan
Speaking with Brendan O’Connor on RTÉ Radio One, Hector explained: ‘It’s something I knew I had for a long, long time. We were monitoring it for 15 years, and I went into the world of endocrinology, and I met some unbelievable people on the journey…
‘You don’t know what’s wrong, and then they tell you that you have a little growth on your pituitary called an adenoma, and it’s called a TSH adenoma, which is quite rare. Then the tests begin, and you learn more about this thing… [we’ve been] managing it with injections.’
Explaining a little about the pituitary gland, Hector said: ‘Your pituitary tells the body how to feel every single day, the hormones, the metabolism, and it runs the thyroid… He’s like a Fabergé egg. He’s tiny, he’s the size of a grape… I had a growth on the far side of that, a 6 millimetre growth.’
Hector Ó hEochagáin and Brendan O’Connor. Pic: RTÉ Radio One
Hector said the tumour affected everything from his bones to his metabolism and heart rate, and because his adenoma was so rare, affecting only ‘one in every two or three million people’, he took part in a study in Cambridge in the UK.
Brendan asked Hector why he decided to remove the tumour now, with Hector saying the time was right because ‘it was just acting the maggot, doing certain things to the body.’
‘It was changing hormones, hormones that we need every day to function, and I trusted the people [medical professionals] around me,’ Hector said. ‘We’ve unbelievable people in this country.’
The brain surgery was Hector’s first ever operation, and he admitted it was a little frightening but that he’s ‘happy’ he’s had the procedure now and that by speaking out about it, he’s been able to help others.
Angela Scanlon, Suzanne Eade, CEO, Horse Racing Ireland and Hector Ó hEochagáin at the launch of Irish Champions Festival. Pic: Andres Poveda
‘I talked about it on the podcast [but] I hadn’t discussed it with anyone else. My family knew about it, my wife knew about it, but I just kept it private,’ he said.
After the surgery in July, Hector has been taking it easy and ‘doing nothing’ but ‘enjoying the great weather in Galway’.
He added: ‘It’s done now and I’m very happy that it’s done… My attitude [to life] has always been fairly positive.
Hector O’Heochagain and his wife Dympna arrive at the IFTA Awards 2008. Pic: VIPIRELAND.COM
‘Surround yourself with good people and don’t forget to talk and share stories and swap conversations and smile.
‘Get off the mobile phone and just give hugs and be good and enjoy the sideline of the football pitches and what a beautiful day in Dublin it is today, the colour of the leaves.
‘We’ve just got to open our eyes, Brendan, a little bit more.’