Rosedale born-and-bred father of four Aaron Rose described the return of a rare form of potentially life-threatening brain cancer to a cavity in the right side of his head as a “small bump in the road”.
“I’m certainly not going to let this stop me from living my life, building my dream home with the family,” he said.
“I’m certainly not going to let it stop me from working or achieving my goals.”
Mr Rose was initially diagnosed nine years ago and underwent radiation and two rounds of brain surgery which put the cancer into remission.
Unfortunately, however, that was not to be the end of his battle with the incurable condition as a recent MRI scan revealed the tumour had returned.
Without surgery, doctors could not tell how dangerous the tumour was but feared it could be stage four cancer, so Mr Rose underwent brain surgery for a third time.
“The news wasn’t good, but it is not bad,” he said.
“It is a grade three anaplastic astrocytoma. Bad news is it is guaranteed to come back.
“One in five people make it to the five-year mark.”
Mr Rose said the surgeons were confident they had removed all of the tumour, something they originally thought would not be possible, however, he will still have to begin chemotherapy in tablet form, which will last about five months.
The Rosedale community has rallied to support Mr Rose and his family through this period of uncertainty.
“I’m on the road to recovery and certainly hasn’t been easy,” he said.
“Dawn [from the Rosedale Lions Club] has been absolutely amazing.
“They’ve helped us out in so many ways, we couldn’t possibly thank them, but when we get back on our feet I want to do something to thank them and give back.”
The Lions recently held a market with all proceeds going to the family to support them through Mr Rose’s time off work.
The proceeds of the next Rosedale market on July 7 will also go to the Rose family.
The market will begin at 8am at Prince Street Reserve in Rosedale.
Market stalls are $10 each.
For more information or to book a stall, phone Dawn on 0448 992 714.
To donate to the Rose family, visit their Facebook page facebook.com/Round2notout/ or their fundraising page chuffed.org/project/aaronrose.
