THREE years ago 24-year-old Kristina Painting was told she had a benign tumour in her brain.

Suffering from fatigue, headaches and hormone problems, she had to leave her job as a child carer and went through an unsuccessful operation to remove the lump in her pituitary gland in 2010.

She is now on medication but believes she may have to suffer symptoms caused by her condition for the rest of her life.

On Saturday the Witney resident will organise a fundraiser to raise cash for The Pituitary Foundation, which provided her with help and support when she was diagnosed.

The fun day will take place at Ducklington Village Hall, near Witney.

Miss Painting said: “I started feeling quite unwell in 2009, light-headed, headaches and my periods stopped.

“I went to the doctors to get checked out and they did tests and an MRI scan and found out I was suffering with prolactinoma.”

A prolactinoma is a non-cancerous pituitary tumour.

It results in too much prolactin, a hormone that triggers lactation in the blood.

Miss Painting said: “They tried to remove as much as they could in the operation but they could not remove all of it.They were hoping it would lower the prolactin but it did not work.

“I think it is something I am going to have to live with.”

She has now started doing a few hours work as a voluntary child carer each week to try and restart her career.

The fun day will feature a raffle, face painting and craft table. It will take place between 1.30pm and 5pm.