I was going to the bathroom often and had bad headaches. At first my GP was dismayingly unconcerned... but these were the signs of brain cancer that changed my life. With astonishing bravery, HARRY HOWARD reveals his story

Remember, remember, the 5th of November. To astir of us, this rhyme evokes visions of fireworks, bonfires and household fun. But it has been seared connected my representation for an wholly antithetic reason.

It was connected that time that I was diagnosed with a encephalon tumour, arsenic I sat successful a dim ward successful Maidstone Hospital successful Kent.

It was an onslaught of vomiting that came without informing that prompted my travel to A&E, but the signs that thing was incorrect had been gathering implicit months.

I had needed a wee progressively often, to the grade that I was utilizing the bath doubly an hr successful the day, and 3 oregon 4 times a night.

And I didn't cognize it then, but the tumour was besides why, though I was 17, I had stopped increasing astatine slightest 2 years earlier. 

Thin and fawn-like, with weirdly agelong legs and large feet but a wholly undeveloped precocious body, I looked much similar a 14-year-old.

It was besides wherefore I had been having what I felt to beryllium the worst headaches ever.

But arsenic I waited to beryllium seen, lying crossed respective seats successful the A&E waiting country and with my caput resting connected my mum's lap, I had nary thought however my beingness was astir to change.

Not conscionable the encephalon surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy I would endure, but that the interaction of my crab and its attraction would beryllium life-long.

My attraction saved my life, but its consequences and those of the tumour itself meant I swapped 1 information for different – 1 which I americium inactive surviving with, 13 years later.

And crab leads to changes beyond the physical. It is simply a life-changing trauma – and 1 I shared with my mum.

As she waited with maine successful A&E, I had nary thought that she had her ain aesculapian assignment booked. 

A fewer weeks later, connected the aforesaid time I started chemotherapy, Mum was told she had bosom cancer. 

It was an astonishing, cruel coincidence that shocked adjacent the doctors. But it allowed america to enactment each different too.

Knowing that Mum was sick excessively helped enactment my concern into position and kept immoderate thoughts of self-pity successful check. 

My temper could easy person spiralled, fixed that the crab deed conscionable arsenic my peers were adjacent to leaving school.

It was aft I started my last twelvemonth of A-levels successful 2011, that arsenic good arsenic my urinary symptoms I started experiencing progressively terrible tiredness and lethargy.

My schoolwork became 10 times harder. Seeing friends aft schoolhouse oregon astatine weekends became much and much of a challenge.

Then came the crushingly achy headaches. I had what is known arsenic a pineal germinoma. 

Over the people of my life, a clump of germ cells – those that ordinarily make into reproductive cells successful the testicles – had grown adjacent my pineal gland, which sits successful the mediate of the encephalon and secretes the 'sleep hormone' melatonin.

As the tumour grew, it started to person an interaction connected my pituitary gland – and my development, arsenic the gland produces hormones that power maturation – arsenic good arsenic the thyroid and the kidneys' accumulation of urine, which explains wherefore I was needing to wee more.

Initially the GP was dismayingly unconcerned. At 1 constituent helium asked if I was eating excessively galore bags of crisps, due to the fact that the levels of sodium – oregon brackish – successful my humor were truthful high, though this was really owed to terrible dehydration brought astir by each that weeing.

Mum and I resorted to Google and went backmost to him with the sanction of a information usually caused by a encephalon tumour that presents with changeless weeing: it's called diabetes insipidus.

He sat backmost successful his seat and said that successful 30 years of signifier helium had ne'er seen a case.

Finally, astir six weeks aft my archetypal visit, helium referred maine to an endocrinologist. But I would find myself successful A&E connected Bonfire Night earlier I could marque that appointment.

The doctors determination sent maine for a CT scan and it was this that revealed I had a encephalon tumour.

The giveaway was the caregiver with the container of tissues who followed the doc to my bedside arsenic they came to interruption the news.

Both Mum and I were successful tears, but I don't deliberation past I could afloat sorb the implications of what I was being told.

They needed to bash an MRI scan to get a clearer picture, truthful I was taken to King's College Hospital successful London that nighttime successful an ambulance. 

I felt a childish consciousness of excitement astatine the honour of getting a bluish light.

At King's I had 2 encephalon operations wrong days. 

One was to relieve the unit wrong my skull caused by the tumour blocking the accustomed travel of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). 

As a result, the fluid had obscurity to spell and the resulting pressure, known arsenic hydrocephalus, was what had been causing my utmost headaches.

The 2nd process was a biopsy – getting a illustration of the tumour to find what benignant it was.

A fortnight aboriginal I was starting my attraction astatine the Royal Marsden successful London.

Thankfully, it was little than an hr from location successful Kent, and from wherever Dad lived (he and my mum had divided erstwhile I was precise young) successful London.

As the countdown to my radiotherapy began, I developed blurred imaginativeness arsenic the tumour started pressing connected my optic nerve, truthful I needed chemotherapy to shrink it rapidly to debar the hazard of having permanently impaired vision.

It was connected the aforesaid time that I started chemotherapy that Mum was told she had bosom cancer.

When my shell-shocked Dad told my member and maine the quality a fewer weeks later, I retrieve burying my look into my brother's enarthrosis and bursting into tears.

My brother, who faced the imaginable of losing some Mum and me, ne'er erstwhile complained astir however the commencement of his 20s (his 20th day came 9 days aft my diagnosis) was dominated by our illnesses and recovery.

My attraction finished successful precocious February 2012 and Mum was declared cancer-free conscionable a fewer weeks earlier that.

But for some of us, it was not similar a last curtain – crab attraction is not similar that.

My pituitary gland – which is astatine the basal of the encephalon – should person been releasing hormones to substance growth, my thyroid function, my kidneys' accumulation of urine and much besides. 

But the radiotherapy dealt a decease stroke to it and truthful I unrecorded with a lifelong information called panhypopituitarism, which means it doesn't merchandise those hormones truthful I indispensable instrumentality respective antithetic types of medicine each time to replicate their effects.

They see hydrocortisone, which replaces cortisol, our 'stress hormone' which has a relation successful everything from the sleep-wake rhythm and metabolism, to humor sweetener levels and immune function. Without it, you can't survive.

I besides person to instrumentality desmopressin, an anti-diuretic medicine that stops maine needing a wee each the time. It means I person to ticker however overmuch liquid I drink.

So a pint of brew won't pb to a speedy travel to the pub bathroom. 

Quite the other – the fluid stays successful my strategy for overmuch longer, so, if I portion excessively overmuch I tin extremity up with dangerously debased humor sodium levels (hyponatraemia) arsenic the sodium is efficaciously diluted.

Symptoms of that see a terrible headache, nausea, disorder – and successful superior cases, seizures and adjacent coma.

There person been different impacts, too.

I utilized to find it hard to explicate what had happened to maine to caller friends, much due to the fact that I felt awkward astatine however shocked they ever were. 

My crab besides meant I didn't commencement to look similar a 'real man' until I was astir 20, aft a mates of years of taking maturation hormone. 

So with that came an inevitable hold to my emotion life, arsenic my levels of self-confidence caught up.

Thankfully, my past doesn't look to person enactment disconnected romanticist partners – but for one.

A mates of years ago, I arranged to spell for a repast with a miss aft we started talking connected a dating app. 

I ended up telling her successful passing that I had had crab arsenic a teenager, adjacent though it's not thing I would usually uncover truthful aboriginal on.

A fewer days aboriginal she cancelled the repast due to the fact that she was disquieted the tumour mightiness travel backmost oregon that I could walk it connected to immoderate children we mightiness have. 

If determination was ever a lawsuit of putting the cart earlier the horse, that was it.

I americium present a steadfast 30-year-old six years into a vocation arsenic a writer astatine MailOnline. 

Yet adjacent so, erstwhile I get an ailment that doesn't person an instantly evident origin I'm prone to thinking: has the crab travel back? Is my fig yet up?

But though it whitethorn dependable odd, I would not spell backmost and alteration what happened, due to the fact that I consciousness the acquisition has made maine a stronger, much mature person.

Although for those who judge that the interaction of crab ends with the all-clear, that things conscionable spell backmost to however they were, millions of survivors volition archer you otherwise.

I americium not the idiosyncratic I was 13 years ago. I've been done thing that wholly changed my outlook connected life, for the better.

But determination was a price, and I volition beryllium paying it forever.