Community raising funds for Keith’s US medical treatment

FAMILY and friends are rallying around Shannon man Keith Gibbons by raising funds so the 34-year-old can undergo expensive critical medical treatment in the United States.
Keith, who is undergoing clinical trials for a malignant brain tumour at the Burzynski Clinic in Houston, Texas has waged a four-year battle after first being diagnosed with the illness in January 2007, three months after his brother, Darren was taken ill with a similar complaint.
After emergency surgery at the Beaumont Hospital in Dublin to remove the tumour, intensive radiotherapy and chemotherapy followed.
Keith believed he had won the battle and life had taken a turn for the better when the tumour disappeared. A year later, he and his girlfriend of 10 years, Shannon woman, Brenda McGuane married in Las Vegas. Life couldn’t have been any better for the couple.
Sadly, however, a routine scan last year revealed the tumour had returned. It was harrowing news for the couple and their respective families.
“Keith had regular MRI scans that showed the tumour was gone. We were very happy but, of course, the disease is very aggressive and the worry was always there that it would return, as is usually the case with brain tumours,” explained Brenda.
“We got on with our lives and Keith seemed to be doing really well until March 2010 when, after a routine scan, we learned the tumour had returned.
“Keith had another surgery in April where the tumour was fully resected once again. Gliadel wafers, a type of chemotherapy, were inserted at the tumour site.
“We hoped, like we always did, that this would be it and the tumour wouldn’t return but the tumour returned almost straight away. Keith had another surgery in September 2010. We learned then that the tumour had been upgraded to the most malignant grade 4 tumour,” she added.
Brenda, who works at ICE in Shannon Airport, said her husband had to undergo more oral chemotherapy, which seemed to help until the course finished. The tumour then started to get more aggressive and spread to the other side of his brain.
“He was then put an IV course of chemotherapy. All the time we were researching other options. We were always being told by doctors Ireland had everything treatment-wise that was in the US but we didn’t believe that.
“The chemotherapy was making Keith very tired and took a lot out of him. We knew we had to pursue other options. Around March, I found out about a clinic in Texas called the Burzynski Clinic, which specialises in a treatment that involves a drug called Antioneoplastons.
“It is gene-targeted treatment that has seen very good results on brain tumours. It is not a form of chemotherapy and is non-toxic.”
Desperate times require desperate remedies and that was the cue for Keith to explore the possibility of heading to the US for that treatment.
“Dr Burzynski’s treatment is not seen as a fully approved treatment yet, even though for years he has been curing people that were told there was nothing more that could be done for them after conventional treatment didn’t work,” outlined Brenda.
“We sent off all scans and paperwork and after a lot of correspondence over and back we heard that Keith was accepted for treatment at the clinic. We knew we had to go for it,” she added.
After being delayed for a few days because of Hurricane Irene, Keith and Brenda arrived in Houston and a meeting was set up with Dr Burzynski.
Keith started off on a combination of drugs first to try and reduce the tumour size and then onto IV Antioneoplastons.
However, the couple had another unforeseen problem when their insurance company would not support Keith because they didn’t see it as an approved treatment.
“Even though this treatment would have cost them a fraction of what the conventional treatment was costing at home, they still turned him down. We felt very let down. Treatment is very expensive here, as all medical treatment in the US is, but we can’t let that stop us.
“We really hope that one day we can say ‘yes the treatment has worked’ and finally one day we may be able to get on with our lives like every other couple in their 30s. Keith so deserves this to happen to him as he is the most amazing man you will ever come across,” Brenda remarked.
In their absence, fundraising is underway and a benefit for Keith will be held in the Mill Bar, Sixmilebridge this Friday night. Further information is available from Don at 087 9370395.