(Brain Tumour Research via SWNS)
By Jack Fifield
A Brit was diagnosed with a brain tumor after originally putting headaches down to a hangover and "getting old."
Cal Petrie, 23, first thought his symptoms - later found to be cancer - were because of drinking alcohol.
He said: "Over Christmas, I'd have one beer but three or four hours later I would start to get a headache.
"I thought I must be getting old when hangovers come so soon after a beer.
"After taking an ibuprofen, I would be okay."
But in January of this year Cal was diagnosed with a grade four pineoblastoma - a rare cancer.
He has since had two operations to remove the tumor and excess fluid from his brain, followed by six weeks of proton beam therapy – where a dose of high energy protons are precisely targeted at a tumor.
He is now undergoing chemotherapy.
Cal, who lives in Clapham Junction, south-west London, is working with the charity Brain Tumour Research to raise awareness and wants increased government funding for brain tumors.
He said: "Being told I had a cancerous brain tumor turned my whole world upside down. It was devastating.
"I started to ask myself, 'why me?' and 'why now?'.
"I felt angry with the situation because it just felt so unfair although, in my head, I knew there was no one to be angry with. I was just really unlucky.
"There are very few answers but Government funding for brain tumors is still so low.
"Everybody facing a diagnosis wants to know why these things are happening. More funding will help answer those questions and will lead to more treatment options and improved outcomes."
Cal added: "The doctors have said that I'm such a rare case, so they've taken quite an interest in me.
"My case is being looked at by dozens of clinicians trying to figure out why this happened, so it doesn't happen again.
"They don't know if my tumor was really fast-growing or if it's been there for a long time, resting dormant until I had my headaches."
Cal's mom Lucy Scott-Petrie is taking on the London to Brighton bike ride on Sunday (Sept. 13) to raise money for Brain Tumour Research.
Brain Tumour Research's Karen Noble said: "Cal's story reflects the devastating reality faced by so many families across the UK.
"We are campaigning to increase the national investment in research into brain tumors to at least £45 million ($60.1 million) a year.
"We need sustained investment if we are to develop kinder, more effective treatments and give brain tumor patients the best possible chance."
According to the charity, pineoblastomas are mostly diagnosed in people under 20 years old.
Symptoms include pressure in the skull, headaches, nausea, and abnormal eye movements.
