David's Treatment in London

I can’t believe that I am writing this as it means we really have to accept the reality of the nightmare and heartbreak that we have been living for the last 6 months.

On 21st August 2024 we had the most devastating news. My amazing and brave husband David Phillips was diagnosed with a Grade 4 Glioblastoma. Glioblastoma is the most common and aggressive primary malignant brain tumour. This is a terminal cancerous brain tumour with a very poor prognosis of 12-14 months.

Since diagnosis David has had awake craniectomy brain surgery to remove as much of the tumour as possible and months of daily intensive radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Unfortunately, this is just to buy David as much time with us as possible as there currently is no cure and the tumour will grow back.

As a family we are absolutely heartbroken and devastated and cannot and will not just accept that this is it. We will not give up.

We have done a lot of research for alternative treatments, clinical trials etc. and also sought advice from the oncology team at Velindre,

and the same name kept cropping up. Dr Paul Mulholland.

Dr Paul Mulholland is a medical oncology consultant at UCH and the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery. He specialises in the treatment of brain cancer. He runs a clinical trial portfolio at UCH and the glioblastoma research group at UCL.

David has already had private treatment in London with Dr Mulholland called Modulated Electro-Hyperthermia. This is not available on the NHS and not yet funded in this country for clinical trials so up to now, we have paid over £6'500 of our own money for this private treatment.

Thankfully, David has now been accepted onto an NHS clinical trial in London. He will have to have another brain surgery operation in the next week or 2 to try and remove as much tumour as possible before implanting a small medical device called an Ommaya reservoir under the scalp, which connects to the tumour via a small tube. The nuclear medicine team then inject a drug on a weekly basis, which helps repair DNA damage in cells - directly into the tumour to deliver small amounts of radioactivity.

Our family will have to travel to London for the surgery itself and then travel back and forth to London once a week for 6 weeks for the treatment. After this, David will start the private Modulated Electro-Hyperthermia treatment again which costs £3'000 a month.

I have never asked anyone for anything in my life but I am asking for help now. Over the next few months, the total travel, accommodation and private treatment costs are going to be quite significant so any help, no matter how small, would be greatly appreciated.

Please help us to keep getting David this treatment and give us the hope that this will increase his prognosis, and give me as long as possible with my husband, and our girls as long as possible with their Dad. Thank you.