{"id":670937,"date":"2026-10-31T14:38:09","date_gmt":"2026-10-31T14:38:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/670937\/"},"modified":"2026-10-31T14:38:09","modified_gmt":"2026-10-31T14:38:09","slug":"broadcaster-hector-o-heochagain-underwent-frightening-brain-surgery-over-the-summer-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/670937\/","title":{"rendered":"Broadcaster Hector \u00d3 hEochag\u00e1in underwent \u2018frightening\u2019 brain surgery over the summer \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Broadcaster Hector \u00d3 hEochag\u00e1in<\/a> has revealed he had brain surgery in the summer. <\/p>\n

The Irish television presenter said medics in Galway<\/a> removed a small tumour from his pituitary gland in July. <\/p>\n

They had been monitoring the growth for 15 years but decided to operate because it was \u201cacting the maggot, doing certain things with the body\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt was changing hormones; hormones that we need every day to function,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

\u00d3 hEochag\u00e1in described the TSH-secreting adenoma he had as \u201cquite rare\u201d, affecting \u201cone in every two or three million people\u201d. <\/p>\n

The podcaster and author explained on RT\u00c9 Radio 1\u2019s Brendan O\u2019Connor show that the pituitary \u201ctells the body how to feel every single day \u2013 the hormones, the metabolism and [it] runs the thyroid\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt affects my bones, heart rate, metabolism, blood. Basically, it affects hidden things in the body. It\u2019s a very powerful thing the pituitary gland,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

\u00d3 hEochag\u00e1in was managing the condition for years with injections. <\/p>\n

He had never been under general anaesthetic or been in an operating theatre before July. The thoughts of surgery were frightening, he said.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Hector \u00d3 hEochag\u00e1in: \u2018I\u2019m a hippie. That\u2019s why we live in Galway. It attracts bohemians\u2019Opens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is when he [the medic] tells you he\u2019s going up through the nose, and going to drill through to the scull … It [the pituitary] is the size of a grape and I had a growth on the back of that grape the size of a sweetcorn,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u00d3 hEochag\u00e1in said only his wife and family knew about his condition until he revealed it first on The Tommy, Hector and Laurita podcast.<\/p>\n

He said he \u201cfeels good\u201d after the surgery and thanked his medical team. Recovery involved \u201ca couple of months doing nothing, enjoying the great weather in Galway\u201d, he said. <\/p>\n

Asked if the experience changed his outlook on life, \u00d3 hEochag\u00e1in said: \u201cMy attitude has always been fairly positive. Surround yourself with good people. And don\u2019t forget the talking. <\/p>\n

\u201cShare stories and swap conversations. And smile and get off the mobile phone, give hugs, be good and enjoy the sidelines of the football pitches.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Broadcaster Hector \u00d3 hEochag\u00e1in has revealed he had brain surgery in the summer. The Irish television presenter said…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":670938,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[103,61,60,6085],"class_list":["post-670937","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-health","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-rte"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/670937","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=670937"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/670937\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/670938"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=670937"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=670937"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=670937"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}