Meet Louie

Louie was just 24 when he was diagnosed with three brain tumours. He reflects on the challenges, the isolation, and the support that helped him find his way through treatment.

In January 2025 I’d been living and working in Bristol as a trainee portfolio manager for one year. After struggling with headaches, occasional loss of vision and spells of dizziness I decided to see an optician. After examining me they immediately referred me to The Bristol Royal Infirmary, where after further investigations, including a CT scan, confirmed I had 3 brain tumours.

I was then transferred to my 3rd hospital of the day to speak with neurosurgeons. Thankfully they decided I wasn’t in need of emergency surgery and two days later I was finally allowed to go home. After a few hours’ sleep, I woke up to find my boss standing in my lounge, a very odd situation. He gave me his full support, telling me to forget about work and exams and to purely focus on my health.

What I thought was going to be a few months away from my new job has now become fourteen.

The following day another meeting with the neurosurgeons confirmed I would need a craniotomy and open biopsy/debulking the following week. Surgeons were able to remove more of the largest tumour than they originally thought. Unfortunately, however, the biopsy confirmed that the tumours were malignant.

My treatment process has included a gruelling 6-week intense radiotherapy and chemotherapy course, shortly followed by a full blown 12 round course of chemotherapy, of which I have two rounds remaining. For five days I take my chemo then have 23 days without, allowing me to rest before the next cycle begins again, a process which I have now gotten used to.

Fortunately, I had a nice break after the initial 6-week course in which I got to see Crystal palace, the best football club in the country, win the FA cup at Wembley. The joy of Palace winning the cup gave me a boost going into the full course of chemotherapy.

Throughout treatment I have suffered from fatigue and joint pain which has affected my ability to socialise and be with friends. Thankfully Guy’s Cancer Centre run Teenage and Young Adult (TYA) sessions, where they introduced me to the Ella Dawson Foundation. This helped me a lot.

The Ella Dawson Foundation offers many different forms of support including the; Feel well, move well, eat well and live well programmes. I chose to access the move well programme and received 1-2-1 rehabilitation exercise sessions. These have helped immensely, and from day one improved not just joint pain and fatigue, but my mood and ability to socialise. They gave me something to look forward to as I thoroughly enjoyed them and was put through my paces which I hadn’t had the opportunity to do for nearly a year. My instructor, Vicky, listened to how I was feeling on the day and, if needed, would alter the plan. Due to previous surgery in 2023, I hadn’t pushed myself in a couple of years but with Vicky’s guidance and support I was able to try new exercises. When I finished the 1-2-1 programme, I used the Living Well grant from the Ella Dawson Foundation as a way to pay for my gym membership to continue my rehab.

The support from the Foundation came just when I needed it, thus I have wanted to help the foundation in any way I can. Friends and family have raised funds over the past couple of months by various means. My mum’s choir held a charity event over Christmas to raise funds for the Ella Dawson Foundation. Over 2 nights, 500 people attended, with further donations raised through raffles, refreshments and a JustGiving page, raising approximately £4500. Recently a close family friend, Ingrid, has set out to run 5 50k Ultra Marathons, to raise money for the foundation. I would like to wish her the best of luck and thank her for choosing to represent the Ella Dawson Foundation, and I hope we can raise as much money as possible to continue to help the foundation that has helped me so much.