AN ANDOVER father has vowed to make a difference after his wife was diagnosed with terminal cancer at just 30-years-old.
The Payne family’s life was turned upside down earlier this year when young mum Vicky was diagnosed with brain cancer after suffering stroke symptoms in February.
Vicky’s husband, Kyle, immediately rushed her to the nearest hospital where it was found that she had a brain tumour.
He said: “We were going on holiday, up to Scotland, when Vicky started having stroke symptoms - slurred speech and the left hand side of her face drooped, so I took her to hospital and we were told that it (the tumour) had probably been slowly growing in there for many years.”
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“This removed most of the high-grade tumour, however the surgeons were unable to get the whole tumour as it was 'diffuse' and Vicky's speech and cognition would have been significantly impaired if they tried to remove anymore,” Kyle said.
During the post-op consultation, Kyle and Vicky were advised that she had a Grade 4 Brain Cancer called Glioblastoma, which has a prognosis of 12-18 months, with around one per cent of patients living for more than 10 years.
Following a second biopsy, results found that Vicky’s tumour was a high grade brain cancer called Astrocytoma, with a biomarker of IDH-mutant. This cancer has a better prognosis than Glioblastoma, however, remains life-limiting.
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Vicky will require intensive chemoradiotherapy treatment over the coming weeks, months and years to prolong her life.
Kyle, who married Vicky earlier this month, said: “She is only 30 and we’ve got two kids, they know most of what she is going through, but not the prognosis – they do know that mum is not going to live to 60."
He continued: “We were out in the snow just before the diagnosis and we were all happy, I’ve never understood mental health until now.”
Kyle, 31, now looks after Vicky full-time as she can’t be left alone, in case she has a stroke.
He said: “Life is unpredictable. We are trying to live as normally as we can. We are still going out and doing things because you can’t let cancer define you."
Kyle described Vickey as an ‘amazing mother’, whose wish is to see Casper and Marley through school.
On Saturday, May 18, Kyle took part in a 100k continuous walk along the Jurassic Coast, but he and his colleagues were hampered by the weather and managed to complete 50k.
“I had signed up for it anyway after previously running up a skyscraper in London. After Vicky’s diagnosis I wondered whether I was still able to do the 100k walk but I thought ‘no let’s do it for the Brain Tumour Charity’.”
During the challenge, Kyle and his colleagues found themselves stuck up a hill, at one point for around half an hour, and battled against the terrain and the heat.
Kyle is already looking for another challenge to do next year to raise money for the charity.
So far Kyle has raised more than £3,700. He said: “It just blew my mind as to how much support there is out there for Vicky. I wouldn’t want anyone else to go through what we have gone through.”
To donate to Kyle’s fundraiser for The Brain Tumour Charity, go to justgiving.com/page/kylepayne.
The Brain Tumour Charity is the world's leading brain tumour charity and the largest dedicated funder of research into brain tumours globally. Committed to saving and improving lives and help every single person affected by a brain tumour.
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