A 53-year-old U.K. man with troubling signs, including headaches and jumbled speech, was initially dismissed as stressed. His doctor even accused him of faking symptoms before being diagnosed with an aggressive brain tumor. A year later, he died. Now, his daughter is running a marathon to raise awareness and money for cancer research.
Stephen Blakeston, from Hull, England, started experiencing massive headaches and was jumbling up sentences when his wife noticed the symptoms and took him to a doctor in October 2010.
"I couldn't believe it when we visited the GP, who dismissed his symptoms as stress-related and even said he was faking, something I know my dad wouldn't do," Blakeston's daughter Hollie Rhodes recollected.
Blakeston later got a CT scan done and realized that a tumor was growing on the left side of his brain, which was affecting his speech. He underwent surgery soon, and a biopsy confirmed that the tumor was a glioblastoma, a fast-growing, incurable cancer, leaving him with just 12-18 months to live.
After the surgery, Blakeston underwent intensive radiotherapy and two rounds of chemotherapy to halt the growth of the tumor and scans showed no signs of further regrowth.
However, around 9 months later, Blakeston suddenly collapsed and died after a blood clot, believed to be related to his treatment, or the tumor traveled to his heart.
"It was horrible for us to lose him so suddenly, but there is some comfort in knowing it was quick and likely the way he would have wanted to go. I'll always miss hearing his laugh," Rhodes said.
Glioblastoma is a fairly common form of brain tumor, with more than 13,000 Americans are diagnosed with it every year. The symptoms vary but often include persistent headaches, nausea, confusion, memory loss, and personality changes. Other signs to watch out for include vision problems, speech difficulties, muscle weakness, and seizures, especially in those without a history of them.
"It's the biggest cancer killer of children and adults under 40, so it should absolutely be a priority to stop these deaths. It almost feels like people view brain tumors as a final prognosis. That whole narrative needs to change because more funding in research would bring hope to those impacted," said Rhodes, who is running the London Marathon to raise money for Brain Tumor Research.
