After receiving cancer diagnoses for both her husband and daughter, a mother explained how her family had to fight the sickness again.
Dad
Last August, Richard Brown was happy to see Mabel, his five-year-old daughter, finish her leukemia treatment, but he was actually receiving radiotherapy for his own disease on a separate ward of the same hospital.
Richard, 46, was identified as having glioblastoma, a form of brain cancer with a 12- to 18-month life expectancy, in May of last year.
While Mabel has finished treatment and is now attending primary school, Richard continues his fight and has been undertaking cutting-edge immunotherapy treatment in Germany since last November.
Mum Holly, 43, from Dorking in Surrey, said: ‘Finding out Richard had an inoperable brain tumour while Mabel was still receiving cancer treatment was beyond comprehension.
‘Our entire world turned upside down once again.
‘For cancer to strike our family twice like this was devastating and frightening.
‘It is shocking how starkly differently Mabel and Richard’s journeys have been – based on the type of cancer they have.
‘He was told to go away and live the best life he could with whatever time he had left.
‘I cannot believe how ineffective brain tumour treatments are, or that they haven’t changed in over two decades.’
Richard, who works in communications for an engineering firm, had an unexpected seizure last May and an MRI scan revealed a mass on his brain.
He had an awake craniotomy, which is where surgeons remove part of the bone from the skull to access the brain, and he had to keep talking to surgeons during the op to reduce the risk of damaging healthy parts of his brain.
The family – including Richard’s eldest daughter, Evie, 10 – had been planning a summer of celebration after Mabel’s successful treatment.
But these plans were scuppered when Richard began suffering sudden full-body seizures and was told treatment might buy him time, but wouldn’t cure him.
After exhausting NHS treatment options including chemotherapy and radiotherapy, Richard’s tumour kept growing and talk turned to palliative care.
But Richard refused to accept his prognosis and in November he started immunotherapy treatment in Germany – and his tumour has started shrinking.
What is a glioblastoma?
Glioblastoma multiforme is the most common primary brain tumour, which usually spreads quickly to other parts of the brain.
Because of this, the tumours are difficult to treat and are likely to come back.
They are more common in older adults and affect more men than women.
The average age at which glioblastoma is diagnosed is 55, and symptoms can often begin abruptly.
Complete surgical removal is very difficult, says the NHS, as the tumour tends to infiltrate within healthy brain tissue.
Radiotherapy rarely cures glioblastoma, but studies show it doubles the median survival of patients compared to supportive care alone.
Holly added: ‘Starting immunotherapy was an incredibly positive step for Richard.
‘For the first time, he felt as though he was taking some control of his treatment.
‘Eight weeks later we got the most amazing news – the tumour was getting smaller.
‘The immunotherapy treatment in Germany was working and we were blown away – this was beyond all expectations of his doctors at home.
‘Sadly, brain tumours are so fundamentally under-funded and under-researched in this country, so Richard’s only option is to travel to Germany every month to access this treatment and it is extremely expensive.’
The immunotherapy treatment, on top of medication and travel expenses, costs the family £9,000 every month.
The family can only afford this thanks to a GoFundMe page which to date has raised more than £125,000.
Holly said: ‘We could not possibly afford this treatment ourselves.
‘We are relying on the generosity of others to afford this treatment and save my husband’s life.
‘With more funding and research into brain tumours, promising treatments, such as immunotherapy, would be available in this country today.’
Dr Karen Noble, from the Brain Tumour Research charity, said: ‘We’re so sorry to hear about Richard’s diagnosis, especially during what should have been such a time of relief for the family.
‘No cancer is easy to deal with, and it’s heart-warming to know Mabel has successfully beaten leukaemia.
‘It just goes to show the stark difference in survival rates between cancers.
‘Just 12% of all brain tumour patients live beyond five years, compared with an average of 54% across all other cancers.
‘That has to change, but it will only be achieved with more research into this devastating disease.
‘We as a charity cannot bear the brunt of that alone. The government must step-up and invest in brain tumour research.’
Sadly the Brown family isn’t the only one to have multiple generations suffer with cancer.
Claire Cordiner lost her mum and her sister to a glioblastoma a year apart, and now her teenage nephew is on end-of-life care with the same health problems.