Saba Pataudi Recalls Brain Tumour Diagnosis at 27
Saba Pataudi recalls fainting without warning at 27, the MRI that found a colloid cyst, and the surgery that both shattered and empowered her.
Saba Pataudi has shared the health scare that changed her life at 27: a sudden fainting episode that ended with a brain tumour diagnosis and surgery in 2006.
She spoke on the latest episode of Soha Ali Khan’s podcast All About Her, where she joined Dr Mazda Turel to discuss brain tumours and what a healthy brain looks like.
The day everything went blank
Saba said there were no warning signs. She assumed an upset stomach was to blame when she began to feel unwell. As she told a friend she needed to go home, everything went blank. She regained consciousness on the road just outside her building, and it took roughly 20 to 25 minutes before she felt even partially aware again.
“It happened very suddenly. I didn’t have any pre-symptoms or any conditions that I think led up to it,” she recalled.
An MRI found a shadow in the third ventricle of her brain. Doctors diagnosed a colloid cyst, a rare but non-cancerous growth filled with gelatinous fluid. About six months after that MRI, she underwent surgery. The growth was identified as a pilocytic astrocytoma, a low-grade brain tumour.
How the diagnosis felt
Saba described the emotional impact of living with that news.
“Your life suddenly goes numb because nothing feels normal after that,” she said. “One day, you’re fine, and the next day, you’re told that you’re going to have brain surgery. It’s not something as simple as having your appendix removed. It shatters you in a way, but it also empowers you because you have to deal with it.”
- At 27: Saba collapsed outside her building with no prior symptoms.
- Initial finding: An MRI revealed a colloid cyst in the brain’s third ventricle.
- Six months later: Surgery confirmed a low-grade pilocytic astrocytoma.
Why this matters now
Saba’s openness turns a frightening private experience into a useful public reminder: a sudden physical collapse warrants an MRI, not a shrug. It also brings a rarely discussed medical topic into a celebrity conversation, which can push fans to take unusual symptoms seriously.
In May this year, Saba celebrated her 50th birthday with family. Her decision to revisit a frightening chapter on a family podcast turns a personal memory into a simple health warning: when your body stops cooperating suddenly, get help.
Source: Hindustan Times
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