Matt Ticehurst - Fund life extending brain cancer treatment
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Hello! Thank you for visiting my GoFundMe page.
For those who don’t know me I’m Matt, a 34yr old living with my wife Kirsty. Having originally grown up in Marshfield and in Bath, I am now living in a rented flat in South London.
In May 2022, after a few months of suffering from seizures, I was diagnosed with a Grade 4 Astrocytoma (brain tumour). After diagnosis, I went through brain surgery, followed by a 6.5-week combination of radiotherapy and chemotherapy, finishing off with additional chemotherapy for 6x6 weeks.
After finishing chemo I found myself feeling stronger and more active, returning to work for four days a week. I also managed to run the 2024 London marathon, raising over £25k for the charity Brain Tumour Research! However, my quarterly MRI in January 2025 showed the tumour was starting to come back.
The next scan in March 2025 showed further growth in the form of two small tumours, which by 2 weeks later had infiltrated the left insular part of my brain, resulting in a postponed wedding, and further brain surgery and chemotherapy.
Grade IV brain tumours generally have a poor prognosis, with the more aggressive mutations leading to a survival of 12-18 months from diagnosis (diagnosed in May-22). I have been fortunate to last longer than this, having been through two surgeries and have now started a second run at chemotherapy.
Whilst these treatments have been helpful in prolonging my life to date, they are not going to cure my condition. Furthermore, the MRI scan in July this year showed that the cancer has unfortunately already grown back and has now spread to the right hand side of my brain. Both new areas are unfortunately inoperable. The advice from both the oncologist and surgeon has been to explore adding in additional treatment, such as immunotherapy, a medical treatment that is not currently available in the UK.
Having researched and discussed treatment options with both surgeon and oncologist, the most effective treatment option is likely to be immunotherapy. We are still seeking the preferred treatment or combination, with the expectation that the costs will most likely be greater than £150k (which relates to the cheaper treatment options available).
The most likely costs will involve treatments not currently available in the UK but accessible in Germany and will not be covered by private health insurance. Therefore, it’s on me to try raise these funds. With that in mind, I am asking for any of your generosity for any level of contributions towards the costs towards elected treatment.
Any donation that you can give is massively appreciated! If, unfortunately, the tumour wins this fight before I complete my treatment, all unused funds will be kindly donated to the public charity Brain Tumour Research (link below), in the hope that its ongoing research leads to breakthroughs to help others in the future.
Thank you so much in advance,
Matt
Organizer
Matt Ticehurst
Organizer
England