A young Fife dad has an anxious few days ahead as he waits to find out if the brain tumour he had removed at Ninewells Hospital is malignant.
Liam Vincent-Kilbride, 30, who lives in Balmullo, underwent six hours of awake surgery on October 30 to remove the tumour.
Doctors warned him in advance he could die on the operating table.
The former physical trainer, singer and actor won’t know the results of a biopsy on the tumour until November 12.
Fife dad Liam ‘in limbo until I get the results’
Liam and his wife Sheona have children Indiana, 2, and Daisy 5.
“No matter what I am told I will deal with it,” Liam told The Courier.
“I have no idea what the results are going to show – I could be cancer-free, I could have cancer and I could even be given a terminal diagnosis.
“I am in limbo until I get the results.
“I may need chemotherapy or radiotherapy but I will just have to wait and see.
“I have been warned I might never walk again – well I will get a wheelchair.
“I may lose my voice and never sing again – so I can teach.
“Right now, having had the tumour removed I feel so much better already and I have got my passion for life back.
“I feel like Liam again and that is a very good thing.”
Doctors thought Balmullo man’s symptoms were anxiety
It was five years ago that Liam began to feel unwell.
At the time he was a very fit personal trainer and also performing in musical theatre locally and across the country, including in London.
He was Jesus in Jesus Christ Superstar as part of a touring show and had key roles in other shows including We Will Rock You, Honk, Brigadoon and Son of a Preacher Man.
However, Liam began to feel very unwell in 2019.
He said: “My left side wouldn’t do what I asked it to do and I became very tired.
“I had just become a dad to Daisy and doctors put my symptoms down to stress and anxiety.”
A few months later Liam had what he describes as a “huge breakdown”.
“My singing voice wouldn’t work and my personality and confidence basically disappeared,” he recalled.
For the next four years, Liam suffered from debilitating conditions including severe anxiety, migraines and vomiting.
Then in early 2023 he developed a severe headache in the middle of the night and had to be rushed to Ninewells.
He said: “It was like someone was shoving a screwdriver in my head.”
Six weeks later he was told he had a “brain abnormality”.
Things then took a further turn for the worse as he was left bedridden from January until June this year.
Liam was put on a cocktail of drugs that had several severe side effects including weight gain.
Liam, who has twice collapsed at home, was eventually told he had a growing tumour pushing against four lobes in his brain.
This was affecting his speech, personality, strength and dexterity.
Brain tumour affected speech and personality
Liam was kept awake for the operation to remove the tumour, but he was anaesthetised for the pain.
This was carried out in Ninewells by a specialist team from Aberdeen assisting Dundee surgeons.
Liam said: “I was aware of them sawing open my head, cutting, drilling and tugging but I had no pain.
“I was warned that I could die and at one point I suffered a seizure which the doctors had to deal with immediately.”
Liam’s surgery was successful and doctors are hopeful they have removed all of the tumour.
But his prognosis is not yet clear.
He was up and walking the next day and allowed home two days later.
Liam said: “I want to get back to music and theatre and the gym.
“But at the moment I feel I am getting to live my life again.
“The alternative could be so much worse. I will stay positive and upbeat.
“Every minute I have with my family and the people who love me is special.
“I feel better physically and mentally and I want to live and get back to doing everything I did before again.”
Conversation