Amy’s Story
Amy Wareham was in the United States in May last year when she had a sudden seizure.
Amy, 47, had experienced no prior symptoms except occasional headaches.
She was blue-lighted to the nearest hospital and was given a CT scan and MRI. It was there that medics broke the news that she had two lesions on her brain.
After three days, Amy was able to return home to London and underwent emergency neurosurgery on 12 June 2023. She was given a glioblastoma multiforme diagnosis on 7 July.
Undergoing treatment
Since then, she has undergone radiotherapy treatment, and will soon have completed twelve rounds of chemotherapy. Spurred on by her diagnosis, she and her partner, Bruce, got married in August last year, asking for donations to The Brain Tumour Charity in lieu of wedding gifts. She is seeing a clinical psychologist to help her process her diagnosis and prognosis, and spending as much time as possible with her young son. Amy said:
“At the moment, I am relatively very well. I have come a long way since my first and last seizure in May last year. Then, I was very scared and had a whirlwind of appointments and scans. Now, things have calmed down and I am taking it day by day. My last MRI was stable. Aside from quarterly MRI scans, I have Avastin infusions fortnightly and chemotherapy monthly. The chemotherapy thankfully is oral and I have been tolerating it well.
“My psychologist has helped me reframe my mind to live in the moment. Now I don’t focus on the past and I don’t worry about the future, they are both pointless. I now live in the present, which I view as a two week window. I am a mother of an 11 year old son, and I am thankful for every day I have with him.”
The Amy Wareham Fund
The shock of her diagnosis inspired her to fundraise, too. Amy set up a Supporter Group with The Brain Tumour Charity, The Amy Wareham Fund, and with the help of friends and family, has already raised over £90,000 for research into high grade brain tumours. Amy said:
“I have been awed and amazed at the very generous support from my family, friends and professional network. I have organised a charity dinner and auction which several law firms came to from London, Luxembourg and Ireland. A lawyer dedicated her Ironman to raising awareness and funds, my work team raised funds doing a walking marathon and my neighbour’s children organised a cake sale. I have three people running half marathons / marathons for me. People have been so kind.”
Research is urgently needed
As she came to terms with her diagnosis, Amy was shocked to learn about the limited treatment options available to her.
The Brain Tumour Charity awarded a £1.5million ‘Quest for Cures’ grant to fund research that aims to improve treatment for glioblastoma – the type of tumour Amy has.
Amy supports The Charity in their investment into the aggressive tumour that currently has no cure and treatments that haven’t changed in over 20 years. She said:
“When I discovered the dire lack of funding for research into brain tumours, I was appalled. Research into more effective treatments is so urgently needed.
“Before I was diagnosed with glioblastoma, I had never heard of it. It is an understatement to say I was shocked at being told I have glioblastoma grade 4, and that it has an average 12 to 18 month prognosis. I was very surprised that I hadn’t heard of it, it being the biggest cancer killer of under 40 year olds, including children, and tenth biggest overall cancer killer. That’s why I set up my own Fund with The Brain Tumour Charity. I immediately knew that I needed to raise money and awareness.
I want to beat the odds to spend as long as I can with my young son.
Amy now hopes to self-fund immunotherapy treatment in Germany. Connect with her Instagram and GoFundMe pages below: