Pembrokeshire Dad Paul Potter, has an extremely unique story.
Paul underwent surgery to remove a golf ball sized brain tumour, followed by treatment for prostate cancer and now he is cycling 600 miles to raise money for Charites, Cancer Research Wales, Macmillan Cancer Support and Brain Tumour Research.
In Paul’s own words,
“The first indication that I had a brain tumour occurred in October 2012. I didn’t realise it was a brain tumour at the time, but I noticed that I was having regular and persistent sharp pains in my head, which appeared to be centred just behind my right eye in the right frontal area .
At the time, I was also making arrangements to commence treatment for prostate cancer with regular trips to London in order to resolve the issue through the Seafarer’s Dreadnought unit of Guy’s & St. Thomas’ Hospital.
In October 2012 I had an MRI scan of my head just before I travelled to London to commence my prostate cancer treatment. On arrival at the hospital in London the treatment was halted when the scan results showed that I had a ‘golf ball size’ tumour behind my right eye at the right frontal area.
In case it was cancerously linked with the prostate cancer, I had a craniotomy to remove the tumour at King’s College Hospital on 04 November 2012. When it was finally determined that the tumour was benign, I then continued with the prostate cancer treatment. I spent the recovery period after the craniotomy at St. Thomas’ Hospital and also at the Simon Patient Hotel next to St. Thomas’ Hospital. This was a particularly stressful time for my family, and myself, and it was also particularly poignant considering that I also had a past medical history which included an intracerebral haemorrhage which was conservatively managed in 1988 at Morriston Hospital in Swansea. I couldn’t help wondering whether the two brain conditions were linked!
I am happy to report that I have fully recovered from both the brain tumour removal, and the prostate cancer treatment, and consider myself very fortunate to still maintain sufficiently good health to continue cycling with no ongoing neurological deficit. Barring a couple of recent tumbles, I still cycle to this day, and I am therefore happy to fundraise for Brain Tumour Research via my favourite past time.”
As well as raising money for Brain Tumour Research, Paul is also supporting Tour of Pembrokeshire charity partner, Cancer Research Wales.
Paul will undertake 9 cycle Sportives in total this year to cover his 600 miles and has already started his fundraising for CR Wales. If you’d like to know more about Paul’s story or make a donation to his Just Giving Page, you can do so by clicking HERE.
