{"id":671049,"date":"2026-10-31T17:28:13","date_gmt":"2026-10-31T17:28:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/671049\/"},"modified":"2026-10-31T17:28:13","modified_gmt":"2026-10-31T17:28:13","slug":"hector-o-heochagain-has-brain-surgery-for-rare-condition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/671049\/","title":{"rendered":"Hector \u00d3 hEochag\u00e1in has brain surgery for rare condition"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hector \u00d3 hEochag\u00e1in has spoken out about undergoing brain surgery during the summer after managing a condition for 15 years.<\/p>\n

The TV star and author revealed he \u2018had to get a small tumour removed from the brain, from the pituitary\u2019 after it started \u2018acting the maggot.\u2019<\/p>\n

Opening up about what happened, Hector said he\u2019s \u2018happy\u2019 to have had the operation and that he had been keeping the news quiet until recently.<\/p>\n

\"HectorHector \u00d3 hEochag\u00e1int. Pic: Martina Regan<\/p>\n

Speaking with Brendan O\u2019Connor on RT\u00c9 Radio One<\/a>, Hector explained: \u2018It’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\u2026<\/p>\n

\u2018You 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\u2026 [we\u2019ve been] managing it with injections.\u2019<\/p>\n

Explaining a little about the pituitary gland, Hector said: \u2018Your pituitary tells the body how to feel every single day, the hormones, the metabolism, and it runs the thyroid… He’s like a Faberg\u00e9 egg. He’s tiny, he’s the size of a grape\u2026 I had a growth on the far side of that, a 6 millimetre growth.\u2019<\/p>\n

\"HectorHector \u00d3 hEochag\u00e1in and Brendan O’Connor. Pic: RT\u00c9 Radio One<\/p>\n

Hector said the tumour affected everything from his bones to his metabolism and heart rate, and because his adenoma was so rare, affecting only \u2018one in every two or three million people\u2019, he took part in a study in Cambridge in the UK.<\/p>\n

Brendan asked Hector why he decided to remove the tumour now, with Hector saying the time was right because \u2018it was just acting the maggot, doing certain things to the body.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018It was changing hormones, hormones that we need every day to function, and I trusted the people [medical professionals] around me,\u2019 Hector said. \u2018We’ve unbelievable people in this country.\u2019<\/p>\n

The brain surgery was Hector\u2019s first ever operation, and he admitted it was a little frightening but that he\u2019s \u2018happy\u2019 he\u2019s had the procedure now and that by speaking out about it, he\u2019s been able to help others.<\/p>\n

\"AngelaAngela Scanlon, Suzanne Eade, CEO, Horse Racing Ireland and Hector \u00d3 hEochag\u00e1in at the launch of Irish Champions Festival. Pic: Andres Poveda<\/p>\n

‘I talked about it on the podcast [but] I hadn’t discussed it with anyone else. My family knew about it, my wife<\/a> knew about it, but I just kept it private,’ he said. <\/p>\n

After the surgery in July, Hector has been taking it easy and \u2018doing nothing\u2019 but \u2018enjoying the great weather in Galway\u2019.<\/p>\n

He added: \u2018It’s done now and I’m very happy that it’s done\u2026 My attitude [to life] has always been fairly positive. <\/p>\n

\"GuestsHector O’Heochagain and his wife Dympna arrive at the IFTA Awards 2008. Pic: VIPIRELAND.COM<\/p>\n

‘Surround yourself with good people and don’t forget to talk and share stories and swap conversations and smile.<\/p>\n

\u2018Get 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. <\/p>\n

‘We\u2019ve just got to open our eyes, Brendan, a little bit more.\u2019<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Hector \u00d3 hEochag\u00e1in has spoken out about undergoing brain surgery during the summer after managing a condition for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":671050,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[321,93,61,60],"class_list":["post-671049","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-celebrities","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/671049","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=671049"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/671049\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/671050"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=671049"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=671049"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=671049"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}