Laurie, from London, assumed his busy lifestyle was to blame for a seizure he suffered out-the-blue in February 2020. Aged 32, he was diagnosed with a grade 2 astrocytoma the size of a Maris Piper potato. He has since endured three operations and now lives with epilepsy and bipolar disorder. Laurie who is now 35, is working with Brain Tumour Research to raise awareness of the disease and is calling for more investment in research funding to help find more effective treatments for patients living with the disease.
Laurie tells his story…
At the time I was diagnosed with a brain tumour, I was working in management consulting. I enjoyed a challenging but rewarding career, had a fantastic group of friends, and was two years into a promising relationship. Things were going well.
One night in February 2020, I had a tonic-clonic seizure where my body went into fit. An ambulance took me to University College Hospital (UCLH) in London, and after several tests, I was told that I had a mass on my brain. I remember that they never used the words brain tumour, but from my scans, I could see it was the size of Maris Piper potato.
I had to wait a few days for a specialist consultation but fortunately, my (now) wife’s father is a neurosurgeon and put me in contact with brain tumour experts from the USA and France to discuss my diagnosis. I remember every word of these conversations and they provided great comfort at a time of tremendous difficulty.
I was operated on soon after, a relatively routine craniotomy, where they open your skull to remove tumour tissue. This all happened during March 2020 which was peak pandemic. I was informed that the surgery went very well and that my tumour was a grade 2 astrocytoma.
Following the operation, my behaviour started to shift. I began to do things I once would never do, from not once stepping foot on the dance floor to being the first one on there. I had boundless energy and felt invincible. It wasn’t something I really took note of, I just did things, but others noticed a change in me.
Out of the chaos came a new chapter. I knew I wanted to marry my girlfriend, Mirona, so I proposed to her on a boat in Ibiza at sunset. I had no idea I was going to pop the question then and there, so after lunch, I had to craft a ring from my sandwich’s tin foil. It felt right, and we’ve never looked back, even though we can both reflect that I was a bit manic.
An incorrect diagnosis of a regrowth in December 2020 started me on a path away from manic behaviour and towards depression. Fortunately, it was residual tissue from my first operation, which was operated on in May 2021.
For the next two years my mood continued to cycle between manic and depressed. I started to suspect I was bipolar, but my psychiatrist and therapists didn’t agree.
Finally in 2023, I got a second opinion and was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. With this diagnosis came the correct medication and I can now say with confidence that my mood is stable and has been for over a year. As I had no signs of bipolar prior to my first surgery, it is highly likely that this caused my condition, although no doctor would claim that with certainty.
In the same year, Mirona and I married on 18 March and had a big celebration with friends and family in France in August a year later in 2024.
Two months after our wedding celebrations, I had a third and, so far, final surgery where a tumour regrowth was removed with a comprehensive awake craniotomy and a plate was inserted to replace the bone flap that had deteriorated after previous surgeries. It is certainly peculiar to have a plate fitted in your head, but I feel lucky that my brain tumour could be treated.
I ended up growing a moustache after my latest operation, which I decided to turn into a fundraising opportunity for Brain Tumour Research. My wife wasn’t the biggest fan of my new facial hair, so I made my fundraising a rollover challenge where I got to keep my moustache if I reached my target. Once I reached the target, it doubled and I raised more than £5,000, managing to keep my moustache for over a month.
While low-grade gliomas can be bad, mine is likely to be operable for a long time. My oncologist has put me forward for a novel called vorasidenib which I’m due to start in the next coming months. It’ll be taken orally with the idea that it prevents or delays any regrowth.
Since my first seizure and subsequent surgeries in 2020, I have also developed epilepsy, which for me is now more challenging to manage than the tumour or my bipolar.
Brain Tumour Research is one of the largest dedicated funders of research into the disease. One of its many aims is to help ensure that when tumours like mine become inoperable, they can be managed well with novel treatments which is where the work of this charity comes in.
I know that with current treatments they can often be harmful to patients and healthier parts of their brain. By supporting this charity, I hope to help fund research to find therapies that can be tailored for each individual and at least halt any growth of the disease.
Laurie Birch
January 2025
One in three people in the UK knows someone affected by a brain tumour. This disease is indiscriminate; it can affect anyone at any age. What’s more, brain tumours continue to kill more children and adults under the age of 40 than any other cancer yet, to date, just 1% of the national spend on cancer research has been allocated to this devastating disease since records began in 2002.
Brain Tumour Research is determined to change this.
If you have been inspired by Laurie’s story, you may like to make a donation via www.braintumourresearch.org/donate or leave a gift in your will via www.braintumourresearch.org/legacy
Together we will find a cure