Former Black Cap Luke Woodcock and his family have been overwhelmed by support after he started radiation and chemotherapy for a brain tumour discovered at the start of the year.
The cricketer, who represented New Zealand seven times, had neurosurgery soon after his diagnosis on January 21, but not all of the tumour was removed, meaning further treatment was needed.
Woodcock’s partner, Jacqui Incledon, told the Herald that the experience leading up to his most recent treatment has been difficult, but both have kept a positive mindset.
“Luke’s a really positive guy for so many things,” Incledon said. “We’re not going to let this break us.
“We’re glass half-full people, it’s the only way to look at these things, you need a positive mindset.”
A now-closed Givealittle page for Woodcock raised nearly $100,000, something Incledon said the pair were surprised by and appreciated.
“It’s been a bit of a shock, we are very much day-by-day at the moment and ... the support around a time for Luke that is extremely frightening has just been overwhelming.”
Woodcock’s symptoms started with headaches and concerns around his vision and balance.
Since then, Incledon said they have learned plenty about his illness, but also hoped to raise awareness for others going through something similar.
“One of the things that we have learned is that this is one of the most expensive types of cancers you can have.
“It is also one of the hardest to treat, there are so many people that have come out of the woodwork that have reached out that are in a similar journey, a similar trajectory and are struggling.”
She said they struggled to navigate the health system and the information around symptoms was hard to find.
However, they have since partnered with Brain Tumour Support NZ which, Incledon said, was an important part of the support they received.
“There are various forums that are available that you can tap into, networking opportunities dependent on the type of tumour that you have.
“You can connect directly with those in the same situation, from a caregiver’s perspective, from a patient’s perspective.”
Chris Tse, chair and founding trustee of the charity, said it aimed to “augment” the health service and “fill in the gaps” to support brain tumour patients.
“Our health system’s under immense strain and particularly for people with brain tumours,” Tse said.
“They’re very complex and if you’ve been diagnosed with a brain tumour, it’s highly possible that your cognition has been compromised.”
Tse said the charity would send a “brain box” to patients filled with relevant information for them and carers alongside wellbeing gifts like tea and biscuits.
“They can get these patient guides, sit down over a cup of tea and read through the information carefully because there’s a lot of information about brain cancer and it can be very confusing for people.”
Incledon hoped to use Woodcock’s diagnosis as a way of raising awareness about brain tumour support in New Zealand, while Tse was thankful to the pair for going public with their experiences.
“It’s not a common cancer and therefore it’s well down the doctor’s list when they’re seeing a patient,” Tse said.
“We’d like more awareness so that people are aware that it could be something which is causing their symptoms.”
Woodcock will continue his radiation and chemotherapy, but he could look to go abroad for further treatment, something Tse said isn’t uncommon.
“There’s very few clinical trials for brain cancer in New Zealand,” he said.
“A huge number of our patients look overseas either for a clinical trial or for an experimental treatment or for, unfortunately, a drug that they can get overseas but they can’t get in New Zealand.”