5 days ago
Truck Driver Thought He Had the Flu or Covid. He Was then Diagnosed with a Brain Tumor and Given 1 Year to Live
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Kieran Shingler wound up being diagnosed with a potentially deadly brain tumor after thinking that he just had the flu or Covid
The 26-year-old was given only a year to live after being diagnosed at 23 in 2022
He has defied the odds but is undergoing treatment again as his tumor has started to growA man in England thought he'd come down with the flu before receiving a devastating diagnosis and being told he could just have one year to live.
Kieran Shingler, 26, from the U.K. town of Warrington, began to experience a headache, sore throat and runny nose in November 2022. At first, he put it down to a case of flu or Covid. However, a test for the latter came back negative, and as the weeks went on, he started to feel worse and was unable to keep food down, per the Manchester Evening News.
Medics at Warrington Hospital performed an emergency CT scan. Shingler was then transferred to The Walton Centre hospital in the city of Liverpool, "where he had four major brain surgeries, including an emergency surgery on Christmas Day [of that year]," a GoFundMe page previously set up to raise money for the family amid ongoing medical treatment confirmed.
The page stated that Shingler was 23 years old when he was "unexpectedly diagnosed with a high grade cancerous brain [tumor]."
Shingler, who is a truck driver, underwent a biopsy at The Walton Centre which revealed he had a grade three astrocytoma, according to the Manchester Evening News.
Per the Mayo Clinic, an "astrocytoma is a growth of cells that starts in the brain or spinal cord."
"The growth, called a tumor, starts in cells called astrocytes. Astrocytes support and connect nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord," the organization explained.
After meeting with an oncologist at Liverpool's Clatterbridge Cancer Centre on Jan. 5, 2023, Shingler underwent 30 sessions of radiotherapy and chemotherapy within a month. Doing so successfully shrank the tumor, according to the Manchester Evening News.
According to a GoFundMe update posted this summer, Shingler was told his tumor had started to grow again in June after going 19 months without any treatment. Over that time, his tumor had continued to shrink.
"When I was diagnosed with a brain [tumor], I was scared, angry and always questioned why. I couldn't have got through the past couple of years without the support of my friends and family but especially my [mom] and [partner] Abbie [Henstock]," Shingler said, via the Manchester Evening News
"They always made sure to put me before themselves and I will always be so grateful. Abbie especially has stuck by my side and remained strong for me as I lost my [mom] last year. I wouldn't be where I am today if it wasn't for [her]," he added.
Henstock, 26, said, "Kieran just wasn't getting any better; he couldn't keep food down, and he was getting excruciating headaches. He was so fit, he was doing a triathlon, working out, we just knew something wasn't right — this wasn't Kieran."
She recalled, "Kieran had an MRI scan and they told us that the [tumor] was blocking fluid from going to his spine. They said he would need an emergency endoscopic third ventriculostomy (ETV) - a procedure used to treat hydrocephalus, a condition where cerebrospinal fluid builds up in the brain's ventricle."
One of the surgeries Shingler had was a craniotomy, the Manchester Evening News reported. He also underwent a surgery to fit a permanent shunt — a device that diverts fluid from one area of the body to another — an hour after being told about his grade three astrocytoma diagnosis, back on Dec. 29, 2022.
Per the Mayo Clinic, "A craniotomy involves removing a portion of the skull for brain surgery. A craniotomy may be done to take a sample of brain tissue or to treat conditions or injuries that affect the brain."
After being told that his tumor had started to grow again in June, Shingler has been undergoing further chemotherapy.
"He was put back on chemotherapy to help get this back under control. We would love to continue to raise money for charities close to our hearts as well as making memories and doing the things Kieran loves, which can be as simple as going to a yummy breakfast and coffee," the GoFundMe page stated.
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The family said the money they'd raised over the years had "allowed us to buy a Hyperbaric Oxygen Tank, a red light machine and a PEMF [Pulsed Electromagnetic Field] machine, all of which have shown this helps and increases his recovery and helps with [Shingler's] short-term memory loss."
The GoFundMe page had raised over $36,000 as of Tuesday, Aug. 5. PEOPLE has reached out to Shingler for an update on his recovery.
Read the original article on People
