TEN YEARS ago, Donal Ryan’s life changed forever.
His pattern of behaviour changed, prompting his friends to sit up and take note.
Donal has always been an avid sports fan and a man who was meticulous in everything he did. His friends suspected that something was wrong one afternoon when he turned up late at a hurling game.
It was not like Donal. Sadly, the medics agreed that all was not well and a brain tumour was discovered after tests were carried out.
Donal, who is from Cratloe, was living in Melbourne at the time, having moved there initially on a working holiday visa in 1998.
He had previously worked as a mechanical design engineer in Ennis, having studied at the University of Limerick. It was three years after he moved to Australia that the tumour appeared.
“There was a bubble of cancer growing under my brain. It came out of the blue,” said 40-year-old Donal.
“My first symptom was turning up late for a hurling match. It was against the Sydney team, who were the arch rivals. By the time I got there, the game was half over. I had overslept. I was totally spaced out. I knew I was tired. I had gone to the doctor on September 4 and the match was on the 11th,” he said.
“The day after the hurling match, I turned up late for work. Two nurses called and brought me to the doctor. He looked into my eyes. He could tell there was something putting pressure at the back of my brain. There was a mass in there, under my brain. It was inoperable,” he said.
“They had to find out what it was. They bolted a cage to my head. I had a head of thick curly hair. They cut it all off. They had to take out a sample. They took a sample for analysis. It was a rare form of cancer. A bubble of cancer was enclosed in a little sack. As it was growing, it was squashing my brain,” he recalled.
He said that his symptoms were very definite and said he never suffered any head pain.
“I never had a single headache. My two symptoms were I was getting forgetful and I had extreme tiredness,” he said.
Once the diagnosis came through, Donal then underwent treatment, in an effort to shrink the tumour. This all took place in Melbourne.
“They tried to shrink it with radio- therapy. After that phase of treatment, I was extremely tired,” he recalled.
He was given time off work to recover and during this time he returned home to Ireland. The recovery went well and he returned to Melbourne when he felt that his health had restored.
Sadly, however, the tumour returned, in 2003.
“I went back to Melbourne. I relapsed shortly after getting back. It wasn’t spotted as quickly,” he said.
“My girlfriend suspected I was relapsing. She saw something in my driving. We went to the hospital. The scan showed up that it was back,” he recalled.
He underwent treatment in the form of chemotherapy. While the treatment has banished the tumour, which has never come back since then, Donal has a brain injury in that his short-term memory is affected.
After his treatment in Australia was complete, Donal returned home to Cratloe in 2003. He joined Headway in Limerick, where he has engaged in rehabilitative training since then. He believes that this will help him to secure employment in the future.
He has made great progress since his return home and although he is disappointed that his memory has been affected, he remains positive about the future.
“I have been stable. The tumour is completely gone. My short- to medium-term memory was badly affected. I don’t know if that was from the tumour or the treatment. I feel fine now. I am fairly independent. I haven’t returned to driving. I have been certified that I am able to drive but I haven’t driven,” he said.
He avails of a good public transport service from his home in Cratloe to Limerick city on a daily basis to attend Headway.
“I’d love to go back working, to do something in the engineering line, but my memory isn’t good enough. It will probably be just part-time,” he added.
“Overall, when I look back at where I came from, I’m grateful to be alive,” he said.
The manager of Headway, Denis Mangan, works with Donal in his training. Donal is one of 51 clients of the centre. Those attending have an acquired brain injury and all hail from the mid-west – Clare, Limerick and North Tipperary.
“Donal is on a programme which is the specialist resource service. There are work schemes in that. All going well, Donal will go on work experi- ence placement,” he said.
“The courses here would be evidence of new learning. We offer Level 3, Level 4 and Level 5 FETAC certification. This prepares for placements and further courses. We also offer counselling and support around dealing with difficulties,” he said.
“There are very set programmes. Clients look at their own abilities and work skills, communication skills and interpersonal skills.
“There is a huge amount of peer support among clients. People make friends here and socialise and go on trips and social outings,” he said.
One of the events that clients such as Donal are anticipating is Headway’s ball, at the Dunraven Arms Hotel, Adare, on Friday, October 7.
The money raised will go towards a new premises which Headway plans to move to in the coming months. Tickets, at a cost of € 100, are available from Headway – phone 061 469305.