As some of you may know 2024 didn’t start off great for our little family. Not long after having Marley in October, Jack became ill with migraines, hand tremors, struggling to lift his leg to walk and towards the end blurry vision in his right eye. With all of these symptoms not getting any better he decided to go to the doctors at the beginning of January. They assessed Jack and advised that they don’t think there is anything wrong but was going to send him for an MRI as a precaution. He then had an MRI scan after a few days of being first seen, to which we were told the devastating news that he had a brain tumour and it will need to be investigated. After a meeting with the neuroscience department in Medway the following week, they advised that there was no other option but to operate, which meant that he would need to be referred to Kings College Hospital where the surgery would take place. Luckily, the tumour was benign and also the primary tumour. After nine hours under the knife, the brilliant surgeons at Kings College Hospital successfully removed the whole brain tumour which meant that Jack didn’t have to undergo radiotherapy. After they tested the brain tumour they were able to confirm that this type of tumour is quite common in late 20 to late 30 year-olds and can be linked to VHL syndrome. They sent Jack down to have CT scan on his abdomen, for them to confirm he has no other lesions elsewhere but they have still referred Jack to Guys hospital to be tested for VHL syndrome.

With all of this in mind we have always wanted to do the London Marathon and couldn’t think of a better charity to run it for. As this charity doesn’t just look into brain tumours, they also do research in other fields such as stroke, epilepsy, Parkinson’s, dementia and Alzheimer’s. We will be so grateful and appreciative any donations put forward and will be arranging some fundraising days so we can hit our target.