Dad has just called me to say he has been told he had 2 years to live. I am determined to help him beat the ticking time-bomb!! xxx
His story so far....
My dad is living with a brain tumour which until very recently was thought to be benign. It is now asuumed to be a higher grade. Today he is meeting Dr Matt Grffin at Nottingham City to discuss radiotherapy. Everything seems very scary at the moment....
My father lives in Mansfield and I live in Southampton so its tough being so far away.
How my jounrey began: August 2008 my mum and dad visited me in sunny Southampton. The reason for the visit was to celebrate dad retiring at 65. That evening we had a few beers and a Chinese meal. A few hours later we were all tucked up in bed dreaming of the good life when I was awoken by my screaming mum. Dad was having his first ever seizure. We thought he was dying, a heart attack, maybe a stroke. The paramedics took him to the general hospital and I thought I would never see him again. A few hours later me, mum and dad were back at home - bizarre. The docs had told him everyone can have 1 fit, put it down to stress, over -heating!! Phew thank god!
A week later they went back to Mansfield, Nottinghamshire (my home town) and dad has another fit. Now we start to worry.
Anyway long story short he gets diagnosed with a slow growing benign tumour. Surveilence scans are prescribed and we as a family learn to live with the news.
The following year a scan shows some growth, a needle biospy is suggested. The biopsy results show a grade 2 right frontal lobe tumour, probably a astrocytoma. Again survelience scans are suggested, next one Feb 2009. Great 6 months of life without any interventions.
Just after Xmas dad gets his licence back and we really feel like we have turned a corner. In Feb goes for his scan and the wait begins for a follow-up. In the mean-time me and my partner buy my dad a little Yaris and drive it up. Dad was over the moon. The freedom and independance he craved to cope with the devastation caused by the tumour didn't last long. He recevied a call from his Consultant, Donald MacArthur at QMC Nottingham to say he needed to come in for a chat. 3 days later he is told the tumour is growing and that radiotherapy is needed.
