Dad paying £6,000 a month to stop brain tumour from killing him

A dad repeatedly told his slurred speech and headaches were 'nothing to worry about' is now paying £6,000 a month to stay alive.

Mark Thompson, 34, from New Quay in Ceredigion, Wales, is battling a deadly brain tumour and undergoing pioneering treatment hundreds of miles away in Germany.

The treatment, not offered by the NHS, uses his own body to fight off the cancer and in total the 12 rounds cost £72,000 – £6,000 a month.

The 34-year-old has been crowdfunding to raise the cash so he can travel the 12 hours by plane, train and bus to Duderstadt in a bid to prolong his life.

But is now desperate for more donations as he and his family put their faith in the treatment.

Mark told Wales Online: “I would say I have changed. Things I do with the kids, I try and do a lot more than before and I’d say try and treasure every moment but I don’t want to speak like that because I think, I hope, I can beat this and that’s how I have to think – think positively."

His symptoms began at the start of 2018, when he started to have a tingling sensation and weakness in his right arm.

Over six months, he was having problems with his balance, his vision as well as headaches .

At some points he couldn't even speak. He knew what he wanted to say, but physically couldn't.

It took numerous visits to various – at times dismissive – doctors and even trips to accident and emergency before he was finally, devastatingly diagnosed with an incurable stage three brain tumour.

He was given between three and five years to live.

Less than a year and a half after his diagnosis, Mark is still battling the cancer that doctors told him they couldn't remove.

Speaking at the farm in Llandysul where he spent a large part of his childhood, he said: "I was back and forward to the hospital and the doctors, I went to see six people in total. Three times to A&E.

"And every time it was just ‘no it’s nothing’, and then the last one then, basically I told him about the speech and he said I needed another scan and he gave me a leaflet about brain tumours. That was a bit scary in itself."

Unbeknown to Mark, his symptoms were being caused by a series of mini-seizures being caused by the tumour.

At one point all he could say was the word "yes".

He continued: "On the worst day I couldn't speak whatsoever. It got to the point where I called 101 and she [the call handler] asked me where I was and I couldn’t reply.

“I knew what I wanted to say but I just couldn’t get it out. It was a little bit terryfying. My only answer to her was ‘yes’ and that was it."

On August 27 last year, Mark underwent the scan – and it became immediately clear what he was facing.

"After the scan they basically closed the door behind me and the nurse just threw it straight at me," he said.

“The kids and the wife, that was what was going through my head.”

Just weeks later Mark underwent an operation to remove the tumour.

During the intensive operation lasting several hours, surgeons worked to remove the 3cm by 3cm growth from the side of his head.

For a few hours during the operation, he was awake so doctors could test his speech and recognition to ensure they weren't removing or damaging areas he needed to keep living a normal life.

Tests were carried out on the mass and Mark was diagnosed with a rare anaplastic astrocytoma tumour.

Doctors told Mark it was "incurable but treatable".

He said: "I wasn’t very worried about the operation itself, because of how advanced things are now – I was more worried about the samples they had taken to see what we were dealing with.

"I didn’t imagine, not even close, that this was what I had. But I suppose since they did diagnose me I’ve just got to get on with it, I haven’t got much of a choice. It’s a case of fight it as well as you can."

Although optimistic now, Mark admits that at some points he has felt down.

But it was a chance encounter with an elderly man at a treatment centre in Brighton that led to the dad's more positive outlook.

Mark said: "I sort of changed my whole perspective on it when I was in the chemo unit in Brighton and this gentleman came in and he was 60/70 and he came in to get his shot of chemo and he was telling his whole story to this woman next to him and I was just overhearing.

“He was saying he’d had it in his stomach, hands, skin, everywhere, and he came in really happy, did his shot of chemo and got up and left.

“I though wow. He’s not upset or whining about it. He came in, got it done and got up and carried on.

“I thought that’s the way I’ve got to be about it – what will be will be."

After the operation which removed the tumour, Mark went through 33 days of radiotherapy and chemotherapy and a four-month course of chemotherapy tablets.

Now he is going through a pioneering treatment in Germany which uses his own immune system to treat cancer.

Mark said: "They sort of multiply the white blood cells to make your immune system a lot stonger."

He is hooked up to two machines, with blood taken out of one arm that has the white blood cells taken from it, with the blood returning through the other arm.

"It was £6,000 a month to start with because I was going every month," he added.

"Thankfully because of the most recent scans the doctor felt it would be fine to go every three months."

All of the money for the treatment has been raised through crowdfunding and holding events, raising so far around £60,000.

In one event with six-a-side football and live music organised by friend Charles Harvey they raised a staggering £18,000.

Later they raised around £13,000 through a 107 mile sponsored walk over four days from Aberaeron to Snowdon.

Mark said: “It’s been a very tough time, but knowing I’ve got all this support behind me is brilliant, it makes a massive difference and it gives me a lot more strength.

“Not just family but friends, in England and in Wales."

A week and a half ago he had his latest scan – the shadows once clearly visible in his brain are now seemingly gone. It doesn't mean he is cured but it does suggest the treatment is working.

Although they always planned to get married, Mark said the diagnosis brought forward his marriage to wife Sofia.

The pair, who have been together for 10 years, married in April with several of their friends pitching in to provide the cake, make-up and photography.

Mark, who has two children with Sofia, said: “We were planning on getting married at some point, but probably not that quick. The diagnosis did spur it on.

“It was brilliant, we actually had good weather in Wales.”

Now Mark wants more people to be aware of the symptoms, and encouraged anyone worried to be persistent with their doctors.

He said: “The whole tingling on one side of your body is an important symptom to look out for.

“Eventually I did have a headache, a but later on about a week before [the diagnosis].

“A lot of people think that’s the first thing but that was right at the end.”

“To anyone with these symptoms, I’d say get it checked out as soon as you can. You’ve just got to keep going to the doctors, even every day if you have to.”

Donations to Mark's crowdfunder can be made  here .

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