A fitness fanatic has told of his horror after work stress and a ‘Christmas flu’ turned out to be an incurable brain tumour.
Adam Chapman, from Worcester, suffered headaches for six months after his wedding day in 2022.
But it was only after the 43-year-old also had difficulty standing or walking and had trouble understanding simple instructions that his family forced him to call an ambulance.
Hospital tests showed he was suffering from a high-grade glioblastoma, one of the deadliest types of brain tumor.
Standard treatments for this “aggressive” cancer (which affects around 3,000 Britons and 12,000 Americans each year) involve surgery before patients receive chemotherapy and radiotherapy. This is the same way it was treated in the early 2000s.
Adam Chapman (pictured), from Worcester, suffered headaches for six months after his wedding day in 2022.
But it was only after the 43-year-old also struggled to stand or walk and had trouble understanding simple instructions that his family forced him to call an ambulance.
Tests showed he was suffering from a high-grade glioblastoma, one of the deadliest types of brain tumor.
Mr Chapman, who used to train at the gym five days a week, has now undergone two operations, as well as months of gruelling radiotherapy and chemotherapy.
His memory, cognition and eyesight were also “severely affected” after he suffered a stroke during his initial 12-hour surgery.
Recalling his diagnosis, Mr Chapman, who also competed in 10km steeplechase races before his diagnosis, said: “I put the headaches down to work-related stress, tiredness and the end of the Christmas flu.
‘My thoughts were blurry and things didn’t seem to make sense; I was slowly starting to lose control of my brain and body.
‘People seem to think that because I’ve had surgery and chemotherapy and I’m now at home, I must be fine.
“They don’t understand that my tumor will keep coming back for the rest of my now limited life, and that all we’re doing with the treatments is delaying the cancer to give me as much time as possible.”
She added: “Without the invaluable support of friends and family, who have been living this nightmare with me, things would have been even more difficult.”
Diagnosed patients usually undergo surgery to remove as much of the tumor as possible.
Mr Chapman, who used to train at the gym five days a week, has now undergone two operations as well as months of gruelling radiotherapy and chemotherapy.
His memory, cognition and eyesight were also “severely affected” after he suffered a stroke during his initial 12-hour surgery.
This is followed by daily radiation therapy and chemotherapy drugs for about six weeks, after which the dose of the drugs is reduced.
Radiation can then be used to destroy more tumour cells and treat those that are not well enough to be operated on, but cancer can double in size in as little as seven weeks.
According to the Brain Tumour Charity, the average survival time for glioblastoma is between 12 and 18 months. Only 5 percent of patients survive five years, it says.
The disease killed Labour politician Dame Tessa Jowell in 2018.
In March 2022, The Wanted singer Tom Parker also died following an 18-month battle with stage four glioblastoma.
Mr Chapman is now working alongside Brain Tumour Research and calling on the government to deliver on its 2018 pledge to invest £40m in research.
He added: “It is very frustrating that the government has still not spent the money it said it would, and that only 1 per cent of national spending on cancer research has been allocated to the disease since records began in 2002.
According to the Brain Tumour Charity, the average survival time for glioblastoma is between 12 and 18 months. Only 5 percent of patients survive five years.
The cancer, which is diagnosed in about 3,000 Britons and 12,000 Americans a year, is still treated in much the same way as it was in the early 2000s. In 2018, it killed Labour politician Dame Tessa Jowell.
The Wanted singer Tom Parker (pictured with wife Kelsey Parker in October 2021) died in March 2022 after an 18-month battle with stage four glioblastoma. He said after his diagnosis that he was “shocked” by the limited treatment options for GBM and that “massive improvements” were needed.
‘It is very important to raise awareness about brain cancer; it is a very misunderstood disease compared to other forms.
“People don’t seem to understand the fact that there is no cure.”
Hugh Adams, spokesman for Brain Tumour Research, said: ‘When the government made £40m available for allocation to brain tumour researchers, we did not for a moment consider that a full amount of that amount would not be allocated.
‘Six years later, only 25 percent of that funding is actually in the hands of the scientists who hold the key to solving the complex puzzle posed by brain tumors.
‘Our 2024 manifesto ‘Time to do things differently’ is very clear that we want the Government to work with Brain Tumour Research to develop a roadmap for the full deployment of this money.
‘Brain tumour patients do not have the luxury of time and any barriers to research funding need to be identified and removed.
“If we don’t, the shocking statistics surrounding this devastating disease will persist and, for all of us at Brain Tumour Research, that is simply not acceptable.”
