No cure, little funding for research, but Highland family sing out about tumour battle
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An Inverness secondary school teacher from Strathspey has released an album to help fund research into brain tumours, after her husband was diagnosed with the disease.
Stewart Blair (51) from Boat of Garten, was diagnosed with an oligodendroglioma in November 2013 after suffering an unexpected seizure. His wife, Jo, an additional support teacher at Inverness Royal Academy, and a keen musician, has released an album online with the proceeds going to the charity Brain Tumour Research.
Jo (49) said: “The situation for brain tumours is really bad. There is so little funding from the government which means there is so little research, it’s shocking. The treatments are aggressive and only prolong life, there is no cure.
“I’ve always a written songs and made music so I have released my first ever album, a mix of folk and country - with a Scottish twist. I’m doing this not just for Stewart but for everyone who has been affected by this devastating disease.”
Stewart’s first seizure was quickly followed by another while in an ambulance, and a third when he arrived at Raigmore Hospital in Inverness. An MRI scan revealed a large tumour on his brain.
Jo, mum to James (19), Louise (24), Mairi (26) and Sean (27) said: “They couldn’t tell us any more than that; we had to wait until we went to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary. We had to wait two weeks which was scary, but Stewart is very stoic and said ‘we’ll just have to see what it is’. He’s always had headaches and he self-medicated with paracetamol; I did think it was abnormal the amount he was taking but then made sense.”
In November 2013, surgeons removed 80% of the tumour during an awake craniotomy. He spent a week in intensive care before going home.
Jo said: “Even though he looked OK, I could see Stewart was not the same after surgery. His memory was affected; I would come home after work and he would be sat watching TV with three cups of tea next to him because he’d forgotten them. His sense of humour also disappeared, which was really hard because that was such a part of him. It took two years of recovery before I recognised the Stewart I knew, and it was so lovely when his sense of humour returned.”
Stewart, a lecturer in wildlife management at the University of the Highlands and Islands in Inverness, had MRI scans every six months which were all clear, until a scan in January 2021 showed the tumour was growing again.
“I’d got used to being told everything was fine after each scan so to get this news was a bit of a shock, even though I knew this day would come. We had just pushed it away and got on with our lives,” Jo added.
“Stewart had six weeks of radiotherapy and 15 months of chemotherapy. He was amazing, he just got on with it. He continued working through most of the treatment, but eventually he got too tired and had to stop for six months.”
Stewart continues to have six-monthly check-up scans. His most recent scan three weeks ago was stable.
Jo said: “We’re very aware it will grow back but life is for living so we both just want to go for it and enjoy it. We don’t want to dwell on things too much because that’s a waste of time.”
Matthew Price, community development manager at Brain Tumour Research said: “We’re really grateful to Jo for donating the proceeds of her album to us, as it’s only with the support of people like her that we’re able to progress our research into brain tumours and improve the outcome for patients like Stewart who are forced to fight this awful disease.”
Brain Tumour Research funds sustainable research at dedicated centres in the UK. It also campaigns for the Government and the larger cancer charities to invest more in research into brain tumours in order to speed up new treatments for patients and, ultimately, to find a cure. The charity is the driving force behind the call for a national annual spend of £35 million in order to improve survival rates and patient outcomes in line with other cancers such as breast cancer and leukaemia and is also campaigning for greater repurposing of drugs.
Purchase and download the album, Green Tree.
