I was told my son just had migraines but now he’s facing one of the most lethal cancers
A HEARTBROKEN mum is watching her son face one of the most lethal cancers after doctors suspected he only had migraines.
Louise Fox, 47, knew there was something more serious going on when her son, George, 13, who would wake up in the night with agonising headaches.
Her doctor suspected migraines, but medication didn’t work for him and the pain only got more severe.
When George started vomiting and had a seizure in the garden of their home, Louise pushed for him to have an MRI scan, saying: “From the very start, I was terrified it was a brain tumour.”
Sadly Louise’s worst nightmare came true, after multiple tests and then surgery revealed that George had a golf-ball sized glioblastoma (GBM) brain tumour in May 2021.
GBM is the most aggressive and lethal form of brain cancer. It can kill within six months if not treated fast, according to the American Association of Neurological Surgeons.
Louise, who is married to Matt, 51, said: “We were told there is no cure and advised to make the most of our time with our son.
“His tumour is high grade and stage IV, there’s no cure. He’s been through so much, but this type of cancer is so aggressive we don’t have many treatment options.
“We were told that radiotherapy would help to hold it at bay, but to go and enjoy our time with George.”
The family have been dealt a huge blow this month, after George was deemed “too sick” to proceed with a clinical trial in the US.
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George suffered multiple seizures on the 11 hour flight to the states, which the family had fundraised a whopping £280,000 for, and was no longer well enough to receive the treatment.
He is now stranded there - 5,500 miles away from his home in Barton-le-Clay, Bedfordshire - as his family try and to get pay for hefty medical bills.
Mum-of-three Louise said: “We were in shock, we’d had no time to process the tumour and now this.
"He wants to fight, but sadly he has the most aggressive version of the most aggressive tumour.
"The cards are never as bad as those he’s been dealt, but he’s not ready to give up."
Nightmare come true
Lousie recalled George’s symptoms starting last April, saying: “He’d wake up at 5am with awful headaches. They’d actually wake him with the pain.
“It felt more severe than migraines, so I asked if he could have an MRI.”
On April 29, specialists at Luton and Dunstable University Hospital in Luton, Bedfordshire, gave the family bad news.
Louise said: “It was terrifying, they took us to a room without George and it was like all our worst fears had come true.
“George knew something was going on, so we had to tell him right away. He was terrified, too.”
After a transfer to Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge, George was immediately admitted for a gruelling 10-hour operation on May 6 to remove the mass.
But, just weeks later, on May 19, their lives were shattered when the results of a detailed examination of the tumour tissue revealed that George had GBM - most commonly seen in adults.
Brain Tumour Research says: “The average survival time is devastatingly short – just 12-18 months.
“Less than one per cent of all patients with a glioblastoma live for more than ten years
“However, 25 per cent of glioblastoma patients survive more than one year and five per cent of patients survive more than five years.”
George had another surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy in a bid to extend his life, and spent a number of weeks at Great Ormond Street Hospital suffering persistent seizures.
But Louise still treasures moments of joy, like the one when she dressed him for his first day in school as a Year 8 pupil in September.
George’s condition continued to deteriorate late last year and, after being rushed to Great Ormond Street Hospital by ambulance, spent his 13th birthday on November 15 in intensive care.
In the nine months since his shocking diagnosis, George has had four brain operations in two countries, as well as multiple rounds of chemotherapy and radiotherapy and he has had special vaccines from Germany.
Despite mammoth efforts, the cancer has come back after treatment.
Louise said: "He doesn't understand why when he's done everything he's been asked - having radiotherapy, chemo, lots of drugs, vaccines, supplements and more. Still it's not gone away."
When on January 15 the family were told that George was eligible for the trial, it was a lifeline for the close and loving family.
George would be given CAR T-cell, a form of immunotherapy with a 30 to 40 per cent success rate for lasting remission.
Louise, Matt, George and a paramedic flew out to Los Angeles on January 21 full of hope with hundreds of thousands raised on GoFundMe.
But after suffering multiple seizures on the flight, George then collapsed at the hotel and was rushed to the Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA).
Louise, who quit her job as an Avon manager, said: "We have come all of this way, made all these sacrifices and now they don’t think he’s stable enough to get on the trial.
"We went from having hope to having it all snatched away.”
George has had two operations since landing in LA. Louise said: "Every time George has surgery, there's a risk we could lose him.
"The situation is simply devastating."
The costs are so high for George to recover in the hospital in LA that his family are appealing to kind strangers for help once again.
Louise said: "We are so grateful to everyone who has helped us. We have so much support from people helping us to fundraise.
"Without them, we'd have to sell our house.
"But we don’t know what our final bill is going to be. We've been here for a week and it's cost £270,000. It’s just terrifying."
Matt, who owns a building company, said: "To come all this way and for it to end this way has just been devastating.
"Now we just want to get him home. We don’t regret coming, we regret that it didn’t work out, but we had to come out here.
"If love could heal George we’d be in a very different position.
"Once he’s well enough, we want to get home, as he wants to be at school with his friends, play football, he wants to watch Arsenal.
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"And we will do everything in our power to make sure he does just that."
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