BBC journalist says he is ‘lucky’ despite incurable brain cancer diagnosis

BBC Scotland political editor Glenn Campbell has told how he has been diagnosed with incurable brain cancer – but insists he is “as lucky as someone in my position can be”.

Campbell said while the “most likely scenario” had been the brain tumour detected after a fall from his bike was glioblastoma – a fast-growing and aggressive form of cancer where patients have an average life expectancy of 12 to 18 months – he instead has a “rare type of tumour” which “tends to respond better to treatment than many other types”.

He said: “I do have an incurable brain cancer.

“It is almost certainly what will kill me, but I am optimistic that need not happen for a long time yet.

“I have a rare tumour called an oligodendroglioma, which tends to respond better to treatment than many other types.”

He underwent successful surgery at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, with Campbell saying neurosurgeon Paul Brennan and his team managed to remove “almost all” of the tumour without damaging healthy brain tissue.

When the cancer type was confirmed after “a few weeks” wait, he said: “I was lucky. About as lucky as someone in my position can be.”

In an article for the BBC, Campbell, who revealed he was diagnosed with brain cancer in August last year, said the “hardest thing” had been telling his children Cameron, 20, and Katie, 17, what was happening to him.

“Getting through that without breaking down was a relief,” he admitted.

“I was surprised to discover that I am not afraid of dying. It turns out my biggest fear is FOMO – the fear of missing out.

“Missing out on growing old with my wife. Missing out on seeing my children complete their journeys into adulthood.

“Missing out on their graduations, weddings and the arrival of any children they might have.”

The journalist spent several days in hospital in Edinburgh in June last year after coming off his bike in an accident which saw him break 10 ribs.

Six weeks later, while recovering at home, he told how he woke clutching his arm, suffering from a “strong burning sensation” and “could not walk or talk coherently”.

He recalled: “Involuntarily, I bit down hard on my tongue and started bleeding from my mouth.

“At first my wife, Claire, thought I was having a stroke. It turned out I was having an epileptic fit or seizure.”

Paramedics took him to hospital and it was then that an MRI scan revealed a tumour on the right hand side of his brain.

Since then he has had 33 “blasts” of radiotherapy treatment, along with chemotherapy, which he started before Christmas.

Campbell says he has “remained healthy and active” throughout, having been able to “keep working, keep walking my dog and climb a few mountains”.

However he said radiotherapy has been “very tiring” while chemotherapy leaves him “nauseous and fatigued”.

But he added: “If this phase of my treatment is successful it should be possible to keep my tumour in check for some years to come.

“Instead of worrying about dying from brain cancer, I can see the potential for it to give me a new lease of life.”

Adding that in some ways this has already begun, he told how he is “spending more time with friends and family” and is “taking more time to appreciate simple pleasures, especially walking in Scotland’s breathtaking landscapes”.

He said he wanted to speak about his cancer diagnosis and treatment “in the hope that it might offer encouragement to others”.

Campbell said: “The cancer club is one that no-one wants to join but I have found its membership to be very supportive.

“I have drawn strength from those who have shared their experiences with me along the way.”

The journalist also said he has started a “fundraising community called Brain Power to raise money for the charity Brain Tumour Research”.

Campbell said the charity is working to establish its fifth UK research centre in Scotland, “to scale up the work scientists are already doing at Edinburgh and Glasgow universities and help them progress promising new therapies into clinical trials”.

He explained: “This is important because according to Cancer Research UK, only four in 10 of those diagnosed with a cancerous brain tumour survive for a year or more.

“Both Brain Tumour Research and the Brain Tumour Charity describe brain tumours as the biggest cancer killer in children and adults under the age of 40.

“I am for defying the odds and for trying to improve them for the brain tumour patients that come after me.”

While he said he will “never know for sure” whether the tumour caused his fall from his bike, he said it is possible the crash helped reveal it “earlier than might otherwise have been the case”.

He said it had also left him with “some unfinished cycling business”, adding: “When my chemotherapy’s finished, I would like to get back on my bike and retrace my route through the hills of East Lothian.

“That could be a fitting way to celebrate the end of my cycle of cancer treatment.”