Daniel Goodwin had assumed eye strain from a new job was causing his persistent headaches until a devastating MRI revealed he had a 5.2cm brain tumour.
The Adelaide father-of-two spent eight months searching for answers to his migraines and neck pain before his devastating diagnosis on May 13, 2022.
“I was in quite a bit of pain and was taking two Panadol every day. I had just started a new job and thought it was my posture or something to do with my eyes,” Goodwin told Daily Mail Australia.
The former defense forces employee said doctors suggested his headaches could be due to a pulled muscle, so he went to a physiotherapist and OPSM to get new glasses which “seemed to help for a while”.
But when the pain returned, she went back to doctors, who ordered an X-ray and then suggested a CT scan when it couldn’t reveal the cause.
‘I asked if there were other options and he said there was an MRI, but it would be an out-of-pocket expense as it wasn’t covered by Medicare. I said, ‘Let’s do it,’ and it was the best $450 I’ve ever spent,” Goodwin said.
Tests revealed that the tumor was benign but still life-threatening as it was located against an artery and blocking the flow of cerebrospinal fluid, which had caused his symptoms due to a build-up of pressure in his skull.
‘From that moment on, life as we knew it took a turn. That same Thursday, Daniel underwent emergency surgery to relieve pressure on his brain and had a valve installed to help regulate the flow of cerebrospinal fluid,” his sister-in-law Katelyn said in a statement. GoFundMe.
Adelaide’s father Daniel Goodwin with his wife Danni and children Olivia, five, and Sophie, two.
Mr Goodwin’s MRI revealed a 5.2cm tumor in his brain pressed against a main artery.
The surgery was successful in relieving Mr Goodwin’s headaches, but removing the tumor required a separate 16-hour operation.
Surgeons removed 80 percent of the tumor, however, the remainder was too close to the primary arteries and attempts to remove the entire tumor risked permanent disability or death.
While Goodwin was recovering, he and his wife Danni found out they were pregnant with their second child, Sophie, who is now two years old.
Instead of a happy baby bubble, the couple were forced to write wills and make plans for future surgeries.
Doctors took a “wait and see” strategy and expected the tumor to remain dormant, but it has continued to grow by about 1mm every six months.
It has now grown back to about half its original size, about 2.9mm, but Goodwin remains optimistic about his treatment options.
“It’s strange, at the moment I feel fine, but there is a danger that it could put pressure on important parts of the brain and affect blood flow,” he said.
Surgeons were able to successfully remove 80 per cent of the tumor in Mr Goodwin’s brain.
The tumor (pictured) has since grown back to about half its original size, about 2.9mm.
Radiation treatment is now your best hope for tackling the tumor, and your oncologist recommends proton therapy, a new form of treatment that uses positively charged protons instead of traditional x-rays or photon beams.
Proton therapy will cause less damage to surrounding tissue, but Goodwin will have to travel overseas as it is not offered in Australia.
There are 19 facilities offering the treatment in the United States and six in Japan.
Goodwin has applied for the federally funded Medical Treatment Overseas Program (MTOP), which helps Australians with a life-threatening condition access life-saving treatments overseas. countries that offer it.
“If funding is denied, here in Australia it will just be traditional radiotherapy,” he said.
“They will never be able to remove the entire tumor because the probability of it damaging the adjacent artery is too high.”
Goodwin (pictured with his wife Danni) now needs radiotherapy and is hoping to receive a new version of the treatment known as proton therapy.
Family and friends are raising funds to help support Daniel’s wife and two children, Sophie and her five-year-old sister Olivia.
Goodwin said he and his wife were telling the two girls as much as they could “without being dramatic.”
“We are not trying to hide anything, because in the long run it would be worse if something happened to me,” he said.
‘Sophie is too young to understand what’s happening, but Olivia does understand to a certain extent.
‘We’ll tell her we’re going to see my neurodoctor and she understands. She is very curious and interested in medical things.