In September 2021, after years of vague symptoms I was given the news that no one wants to hear “we can see a large mass on your CT scan”. After a blue-light ambulance ride to Addenbrooke’s in the middle of the night and further MRI head scans, it was confirmed by a neurosurgeon that I had a tumour the size of a grapefruit, taking up 20% of my brain space, growing on the meninges and compressing my frontal lobe. Due to the huge amount of pressure & swelling in the brain, my surgeon recommended 3 weeks of a high dose steroid to try to reduce the pressure and make the surgery safer. The risk of seizures was high, and I had to remain in isolation to ensure I didn’t get covid prior to the op. 

During this time, all of the pieces of the jigsaw finally fell into place; the low mood, lack of motivation, apathy, exhaustion and huge mood swings which had all been put down to stress or depression for the past few years, were in fact due to the tumour. The headaches, ringing ears, sinusitis and hearing problems and eventually double vision were also because of the tumour.

As were the memory issues, inability to find words and difficulty making decisions.

The frontal lobe is responsible for higher level executive thinking; decision making, emotional and social intelligence, impulse control, ability to self-monitor and regulate emotions, all of which are affected when the frontal lobe is impaired. Perhaps one of the most difficult symptoms of a frontal lobe tumour is personality change; gradually over time, a once fun-loving, kind person can become irritable, irrational, rude and angry. It is not uncommon for those with frontal lobe tumours to have relationship breakdowns and issues with family and friends as well as losing employment.

These gradual changes make it very difficult to recognise, and so personality changes are often put down to situational issues or misdiagnosed as having a psychological cause.

My diagnosis finally came about after months of knowing something wasn’t right, but not knowing what; antidepressants that didn’t work, psychological therapy that didn’t help, exercise, diet, a sabbatical from work - nothing was improving my symptoms and in fact they were getting worse. The GP recommended a trip to the opticians and it was here that the optometrist noted significant swelling of both optic nerves and requested that I go immediately to A&E.

In October 2021 I had a craniotomy and tumour resection at Addenbrooke’s Hospital, performed by an incredible neurosurgeon, with the knowledge that there was a high risk of complications such as stroke, haemorrhaging and death. After 9 hours in theatre, I was eventually able to call my wife Victoria from theatre recovery and croakily exclaimed “I’m alive!” the surgery appeared to have gone well.

After only 48 hours post-op, I was discharged home and the real recovery was about to begin. After 6 months and many post-op complications, including DVT, PEs and seizures (epilepsy is now well controlled with medication), I am feeling fantastic both physically and mentally for the first time in many years! The pathology results confirmed that the tumour was a low grade meningioma, and scans indicated that it had all been successfully removed - cause for much relief! 

The statistics around brain tumours are sobering to say the least, and because of this I know I’m one of the lucky ones, and so have decided I want to help improve the outcomes for those less fortunate in the future… and so I’m proud to say I am running the London Marathon for Brain Research UK in October! 

Brain tumours are the biggest cancer killer of children and adults under 40.

Over 12,000 people are diagnosed each year with a primary brain tumour, including 500 children and young people – that’s 33 people every day.

Over 5,300 people lose their lives to a brain tumour each year.

At least 88,000 children and adults are estimated to be living with a brain tumour in the UK currently.

Brain tumours reduce life expectancy by on average 27 years – the highest of any cancer.

Just 12% of adults survive for five years after diagnosis.

Brain tumours are the largest cause of preventable or treatable blindness in children.

Research offers the only real hope of dramatic improvements in the management and treatment of brain tumours. Over £700m is spent on cancer research in the UK every year, yet less than 3% is spent on brain tumours.