A TEENAGE fitness fanatic who was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumour after suffering headaches while working out at the gym has raised nearly £5000 for research after becoming this year's youngest competitor in a gruelling Crossfit competition.
Rob Bichan, 17, from Findhorn in Moray, lost more than 3st gained during cancer treatment before competing in the event.
The first time he knew anything was wrong with his health was in October 2019.
He said: "I started getting headaches when I was lifting heavy weights in the gym. In December 2019, I went to see my GP.
"He didn’t seem too concerned but suggested I got my eyes tested, which I did and the conclusion was that my eyesight was fine.”
No closer to finding out the cause of his headaches, in January 2020 the Forres Academy pupil was sent for an MRI scan at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary.
He said: “The results from the scan were bad. On 27 January 2020, I was told I had an aggressive Grade 4 brain tumour called diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG), carrying with it an extremely poor prognosis.
"The tumour was on my brainstem and was therefore inoperable."
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Subsequent tests indicated that the tumour may in fact be a less deadly, low grade tumour and in February 2020 Rob was sent for a biopsy at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh.
The procedure took place under general anaesthetic and involved the neurosurgeon inserting a thin, hollow needle into the tumour, to remove a sample of the cells to be sent for analysis.
“When I woke up from the operation, I had lost feeling in my left side, which was really scary," said Rob.
"I had to learn to walk again as a result. I was also suffering from double-vision, which was really weird but thankfully that has improved over time.”
The results confirmed that the teenager's tumour was Grade 2, which is highly unusual in the case of DIPG which is almost always classified as a Grade 4 (high grade) form of brain cancer.
Rob said: “The exact nature of my tumour-type is still unknown but I was prescribed the standard of care treatment for DIPG: six weeks of radiotherapy, five times a week.
"My radiotherapy began at the end of February 2020 and it involved a four-hour round-trip each day, as I had to travel to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary.”
Within weeks, however, the country was plunged into lockdown.
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Rob said: “Thankfully, my radiotherapy wasn’t affected by the pandemic and I was able to complete the course.
"After my treatment finished, I suffered from headaches, caused by swelling in my brain, which meant they had to increase my dosage of steroids. Then, I started getting really bad effects from the steroids.
"The most difficult thing to deal with was the weight gain. I put on 25kg (55Ibs) and went from being in the best shape of my life to being unfit and overweight.
"I also got acne and really painful stretch marks.”
As Rob recovered, his girlfriend of two-and-a-half years, Jodie Park, came to live with him and his parents Jenny and Ed on their farm in Findhorn so that the couple did not have to stay apart during the Covid-19 lockdown.
The pair are childhood sweethearts, having met in the first year of school, and Rob credits Jodie with helping him through "some dark times".
The teenager also devoted his time in lockdown to regaining his fitness by training in his home gym, which was fully equipped with CrossFit apparatus.
"By September, I was able to come off the steroids, which brought its own challenges, as I felt really sick and I was really stressed," said Rob.
"Gradually, however, I managed to get back to normal and I’ve lost 20kg (44Ibs) in weight.”
On August 7, Rob travelled to Manchester to compete in the Battle Cancer event to raise money for the charity Brain Tumour Research, joined by Jodie, his mother Jenny, a 56-year-old personal trainer, and his brother, Johnny, a 22-year-old CrossFit trainer.
READ MORE: Call to give deprived young people free gym memberships
Rob, who recently finished school and is about to start working for his dad’s groundworks engineering business, said: “I think I may have been the youngest competitor there and I’m pretty sure I was the only person with a brain tumour to compete.
"Receiving donations amounting to more than £4,800 was the icing on the cake."
Brain tumours kill more children and adults under the age of 40 than any other cancer, yet historically just one per cent of the national spend on cancer research has been allocated to the disease.
Brain Tumour Research is calling for a national annual spend of £35 million in order to improve survival rates and patient outcomes.
Joe Woollcott, community development manager for the charity, said: “We were so sorry to learn about Rob’s DIPG diagnosis.
"To take on such a tough physical challenge after all he’s been through and at such a young age, is truly inspiring and will no doubt motivate people to consider donating or maybe even taking on a challenge themselves.
“Rob’s powerful story reminds us that brains tumours are indiscriminate; they can affect anyone at any time.
"We are committed to finding a cure, to help prevent more families from having their lives turned upside-down by this awful disease.”
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