The most shocking thing that could happen to a parent. My son, Joel, has just been diagnosed with brain cancer. We were given the news yesterday, following the removal of a tumour, last week. Joel will soon be starting lengthy chemo and radio therapy, to try to keep the cancer at bay. Today, Joel has set up a Just Giving page, for the Teenage Cancer Trust. There's a branch at the Christie Hospital, where he will be attending. If you'd like to help, then this is a nice way of showing it.
I’m conscious that I haven’t posted an update about Joel’s brain cancer for a while and I know that some people feel a bit awkward about asking. Also, Joel is quite private about it all, so I don’t like to keep going on about it on social media, too much, however I thought a quick update might be appreciated. Joel is currently on his last round of 6 months of chemotherapy, plus he’s self injecting a daily immune boosting drug, as a covid19 precaution. The current debate is whether to continue for another 6 months with the chemo, as his compromised immunity is a big issue with covid19, plus the chemo is only about 20% effective anyway. Joel is keen to carry on, though. We’ve also been exploring what might come next, as the treatment he’s had to date is effectively only palliative. The most promising treatment is called Dentritic Cell Vaccine. Basically it’s a personalised cancer killing vaccine is made from residual tumour. There is some evidence that it prolongs life, (years, but not decades). So, we’re trying to find out if there’s enough of Joel’s tumour left, following the NHS histology and, if so, whether it’s been frozen properly. Even then the cost is jaw-droppingly expensive. Something like £200k to £250k, it seems. So, we have quite a bit to consider, even if it’s possible. Hopefully we should find out over the forthcoming weeks. In the meantime Joel worries that each headache is an indication of the tumour growing back, which is very scary for him. Having said that, he’s reconfirmed his place at Kings to do English, this autumn and has his accommodation secured. I just hope he can make it and I hope that lockdown restrictions don’t jeopardise his plans. Until then, we’ll keep wandering along the Mersey, as you can see.
Ian Runacres August 13, 2020
It's now almost a year since my son Joel was diagnosed with Glioblastoma - the most lethal of all brain cancers. Life expectancy is only 18 months on average. Almost no one survives beyond five years. The NHS have been absolutely amazing over the last year and Joel has had surgery to remove as much of of the tumour as possible. This was followed by intensive radiotherapy, chemotherapy and immunotherapy. The NHS have continued Joel's treatment all through the covid restrictions, but it is now all concluded and was only really palliative anyway. We've done loads of research and the only proactive treatment recommended by leading oncologists and neurosurgeons is called Dendritic Cell Vaccine. This is a personalised cancer killing vaccine manufactured from your own residual tumour tissue. Trials have shown positive efficacy in prolonging life. But, it is prohibitively expensive at around £400,000. We are therefore trying to raise the funds ourselves. If you are able to donate please do so via Joel's Go Fund Me page: http://gofundme.com/helpjoellivelonger
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