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Showing posts from May, 2019

Communication between the brain tumour patient and their family and friends (part 2)

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In this post, I will be discussing the more intrinsic 'side-effects' that run alongside having a brain tumour. Some people may find this level of honesty triggering but I believe it is important to be honest with an audience who do not know what it's like to be the patient. Scars and bald patches: A lot of people who have had brain surgery will have a lifelong scar on their head; I have no doubt that you will have seen one before. Some are big and cover one side of the head to the other, some are small, some are healed and some are fresh wounds. A lot of people, like myself, are inoperable and do not bear one; but we may have a bald patch due to radiotherapy or various chemotherapy treatments.  Scar after care can be tricky sometimes: they can be itchy, dry, oozy, stretched, keloid, hypertrophic or even be numb. Some patients forget they have them and some just can't. Everyone' s healing process is different and this is why they vary so much in aesthe

We're Climbing for a Cure!

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On the 9th to the 11th August myself and a large group of friends & family will be climbing Ben Nevis in aid of The Brain Tumour Charity: we want to find a cure, improve quality of life and raise awareness of Brain Tumours! All Brain Tumours are still currently incurable which is incredibly scary but especially when yours is inoperable too. There have been little to no advances in Brain Cancer Research since 1980, yet it is the biggest killer of all people under 40! Please help me find and fund a cure that can prolong my life and the lives of so many others too.  Having a Brain Tumour is just like embarking on a climb: it's an uphill battle with unexpected moments of intense fogginess. You're carrying heavy baggage throughout the journey and you're always wary for the next trip or fall; you just hope someone will be there to pick you up. As there is currently no cure, having a brain tumour is a lifelong journey with peaks and troughs just like a mountain. I was