I brushed aside persistent headaches as eye strain from a new job. Then a devastating diagnosis turned my life upside down

Daniel Goodwin had assumed eye strain from a new job was causing his persistent headaches until a devastating MRI uncovered he had a 5.2cm brain tumour. 

The father-of-two from Adelaide spent eight months searching for answers for his migraines and neck pain before the devastating diagnosis on May 13, 2022.

‘I was in a fair bit of pain and taking two Panadol everyday, I’d just started a new job and thought it was my posture or something to do with my eyes,’ Mr Goodwin told Daily Mail Australia. 

The former defence force employee said doctors suggested his headaches could be due to a pulled muscle, so he went to a physiotherapist as well as OPSM to get new glasses which both ‘seemed to help for a little while’.

But when the pain returned he went back to doctors who ordered an X-ray and then suggested a CT scan when that failed to reveal a cause.

‘I asked whether there was any other options and he said there was an MRI but that would be out-of-pocket as it wasn’t covered by Medicare. I said let’s just do that and it was the best $450 I’ve ever spent,’ Mr Goodwin said. 

Tests revealed the tumour was benign but still life-threatening as it was nestled against an artery and blocking the flow of spinal fluid, which had caused his symptoms due to a pressure build-up in his skull.

‘From that moment, life as we knew it pivoted. That very Thursday, Daniel underwent emergency surgery to relieve the pressure in his brain, and a valve was installed to help regulate the flow of spinal fluid,’ his sister-in-law Katelyn said on a GoFundMe.

Mr Goodwin’s MRI revealed a 5.2cm tumour in his brain pressed against a main artery

The surgery was successful in relieving Mr Goodwin’s headaches but the removal of the tumour required a separate, 16-hour operation. 

Surgeons extracted 80 per cent of the tumour, however the rest was too close to primary arteries with attempts to remove the entire tumour risking permanent disability or death.  

As Mr Goodwin was recovering he and his wife Danni learned they were pregnant with their second child, Sophie, who is now two-years-old. 

Instead of a blissful baby bubble, the couple were forced to draft wills and make plans for future surgeries. 

Doctors adopted a ‘wait and watch’ approach and hoped the tumour would lay dormant but it has continued growing by about 1mm every six months. 

It’s now grown back to about half of its original size, about 2.9mm, but Mr Goodwin remains positive about his treatment options.  

‘It’s weird, at the moment I feel fine but there is the danger that it could put pressure on important parts of the brain and affect blood flow,’ he said. 

Surgeons were able to successfully remove 80 per cent of the tumour in Mr Goodwin’s brain

The tumour (pictured) has since grown back to about half of its original size, about 2.9mm

Radiation treatment is now his best hope in tackling the tumour with his oncologist recommending proton therapy, a new form of the treatment which uses positively charged protons instead of the traditional X-ray or photon beams. 

The proton therapy will cause less damage to surrounding tissue but Mr Goodwin will need to go overseas as it is not offered in Australia.

There are 19 facilities that offer the treatment in the United States and six in Japan.  

Mr Goodwin has applied to the federally funded Medical Treatment Overseas Program (MTOP) which helps Australians with a life-threatening condition access life-saving treatment in other countries which offer it.  

‘If funding is denied it will just be traditional radiotherapy here in Australia,’ he said. 

‘They can never remove all of the tumour as the chance it will damage the artery next to it is too high.’

Mr Goodwin (pictured with wife Danni) now needs radiation therapy and is hoping to get a new version of the treatment known as proton therapy

Family and friends are raising funds to help support Daniel’s wife and their two children, Sophie and her five-year-old sister Olivia. 

Mr Goodwin said he and his wife were telling the two girls as much as they could ‘without being dramatic’.  

‘We’re not trying to hide anything as that would be worse in the long run if something were to happen to me,’ he said. 

‘Sophie is too young to grasp what’s going on but Olivia does to an extent.

‘We’ll say we’re going to my brain doctor and she understands. She is very inquisitive and has a mind for medical things.’