Having survived prostate cancer in 2020, Richard, a former university lecturer from Aylesbury, was diagnosed with a low-grade meningioma in May 2022. For months he’d experienced changes in his personality, low-mood and memory loss. The 64-year-old had an operation a month later. In January 2024, just before a check-up scan, he suffered a stroke. Results confirmed his tumour had re-grown, and he had six weeks of radiotherapy. After enduring a few challenging years, Richard feels grateful that he is still alive. He shares his story to raise awareness of brain tumours in a hope to raise awareness of the disease.
Richard tells his story…
A few months before the lockdown restrictions came into force due to the COVID pandemic in 2020, I was diagnosed with prostate cancer. It was extremely fortunate that the disease was caught early, and the cancer was successfully treated in May 2020.
It was a difficult time because everything was changing fast. I’d been a lecturer at the University of Westminster in London for more than two decades, but different methods of teaching and assessment were being introduced. At the same time, I was developing a new course in Sports Management that was very demanding.
When restrictions were lifted, people went back to work in 2021. However, although I loved my job, I returned with no enthusiasm. I was depressed, short tempered, and most worryingly, forgetful and anti-social. Deep down, I knew that something wasn’t right.
I visited my GP on several occasions. She was sympathetic but thought I was one of the scores of patients suffering from ‘lockdown depression’ and prescribed me medication to calm my anxiety.
Things didn’t improve and just before the start of the new term, I suffered a psychological breakdown. I couldn’t face the pressures and mentally, I simply couldn’t function.
I was granted sick leave, but at the same time I wanted to get back to work and felt sufficiently recovered to do so after a few weeks.
However, things didn’t improve. That became obvious when my partner, Tina, and I were out one evening, talking about holidays and plans for the future. Suddenly I couldn’t recall a single trip we’d ever taken. It was a very scary moment.
The next day, my GP booked me into a stroke clinic, and I had an MRI scan at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in High Wycombe.
I was numb with shock – but also felt a mixture of feelings, including relief that there was something that could explain the way I’d been acting and feeling.
In many ways it was worse than the cancer diagnosis because didn’t know a thing about brain tumours and my thoughts turned morbid. All I could think was that’s it, how long have I got?
In June 2022, I had surgery at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford to remove the tumour which was diagnosed as a meningioma. After an eight-hour operation, the follow up MRI scan looked good. The only slight cloud was that the surgeons couldn’t remove everything as they explained that the growth was too close to vital centres, which could have affected speech and memory.
Almost immediately after surgery, things felt better. The pain and stiffness in my muscles and joints went away. I could walk, run, go to the gym, read and communicate again. It was like having a new life.
In January 2024 I returned to the hospital for a check-up MRI. Whilst in the car I had an ‘episode’. The vision in my right eye became blurred and I couldn’t read or make sense of words. We made it to the MRI centre and explained what had happened, but it was recommended the scan should go ahead as planned.
It wasn’t until two days later that I went to my GP, and further tests confirmed I’d had a stroke. I was lucky to be alive as it could’ve been fatal.
When the MRI scans came back, the residual meningioma had grown a couple of millimetres, and a 30-day course of radiotherapy was recommended. That was tough to deal with, but counselling and practising Mindfulness helped me through.
A brain tumour diagnosis is a horrible thing to go through. It’s completely changed my outlook on life. I’m now much more accepting of things and tolerant. It really has helped to put everything into perspective.
In January 2025, I’m hosting a music event to fundraise for Brain Tumour Research.
Having survived prostate cancer, to be diagnosed with a brain tumour and to have had a stroke, I feel like I shouldn’t be alive - but here I am, feeling positive and getting fitter by the day. I want to raise awareness of brain tumours to bring it to the attention of more people so that we can drive investment towards research into the disease.
Richard West
December 2024
One in three people in the UK knows someone affected by a brain tumour. This disease is indiscriminate; it can affect anyone at any age. What’s more, brain tumours continue to kill more children and adults under the age of 40 than any other cancer yet, to date, just 1% of the national spend on cancer research has been allocated to this devastating disease since records began in 2002.
Brain Tumour Research is determined to change this.
If you have been inspired by Richard’s story, you may like to make a donation via www.braintumourresearch.org/donate or leave a gift in your will via www.braintumourresearch.org/legacy
Together we will find a cure