HELP TAYLOR ON HIS BRAIN TUMOUR JOURNEY!!

Hi my name is Brigid and on Friday 15th September 2023 our world was rocked to its core when we were told that our 20 year old son Taylor was diagnosed with an inoperable Brainstem Tumour.

Taylor's actual diagnosis has been a roller coaster of emotions for all the family. Originally he had been told he had DIPG which was devastating news but more recently he has been told he has a Diffused Astrocytoma IDH-Mutant Glioma (Grade 2) with the potential of actually being a higher grade as per results from his mutation analysis so time is defiantly of the essence.

Because Taylor's tumour is in the pons area of the brain, surgery is not an option. Recommended treatment is 6 weeks radiation and 12 months chemotherapy. The best possible treatment for Taylor is Proton Radiation therapy as it helps to reduces the risk of damage to surrounding healthy brain tissue. Unfortunately this treatment is not available here in Ireland so we are looking at travelling to Essen in Germany for treatment. This would involve myself and Taylor staying approximately 6 or 7 weeks over in Germany while they look after him, leaving Taylor's dad David here in Ireland to look after Taylor's sister Amelia and the new mutt Bear.

We await approval from the HSE for a TAS application (Travel Abroad Scheme) which will cover the cost of the treatment in Germany but not our travel, accommodation and living expenses which as you can imagine is costly.

I had reached out to the Gavin Glynn Foundation for assistance but unfortunately Taylor is just outside their criteria for financial assistance but they have kindly offered to help us with the logistics of things when we actually know when we are going.

When the news got out that Taylor was sick people around us rallied and many have asked and continue to ask about getting A GO FUND Me set up.

People feel helpless and they want to help us along this journey and sometimes that's by giving. As you can imagine trying to get our 20 year old to accept that help was hard and he still struggles with the idea of people giving 'him' money. When he first heard about some of the costs associated to going to Germany he dismissed it completely but unfortunately for him that was never an option for myself and Dave, Germany was where he had to go so we were going to make that happen no matter what.

Reluctantly he has gotten on board with the idea. The continued encouragement of family and friends remind him that any contribution is to help him get well and lesson any financial burden he may have been worried about.

The outpouring of love, generosity and kindness of people has been amazing.

We truly are touched and will be forever grateful for everyone’s support. I looked forward to updating you all over the coming weeks and months on Taylor's progress.

Thank you for taking the time to read this message it is way longer than I had planned. If you would like to donate then do so but please please do not feel under any pressure at all.

Much love

Brigid, Dave, Amelia, Taylor & Tony the Tumour (who hopefully will not be with us for long!!!!!)