“We thought dad needed dental treatment – until doctors found the real cause of his persistent drooling.” 

“He couldn’t understand why this was happening and he felt embarrassed by it, despite our reassurances,” explains his daughter, Ginny Cavedaschi, from Cheam. The clarity of his speech was also slightly affected. Because Brian had had a tooth taken out the month before, his GP identified this as a possible cause. Ginny said: “My dad initially called 111 and they ruled out anything neurological. I then took dad to the doctor. She carried out certain checks and concluded that the recent tooth extraction could be the cause of the drooling. She advised us to visit the dentist and to return if the dental treatment did not help.” 

Several trips to the dentist followed – 7 appointments in all, but there was no sign of improvement. Instead, Brian’s symptoms actually got worse.

Scan in A&E reveals a tumour

Ginny said: “We went through the lengthy process of having dentures made, as this is what the dentist advised, but unfortunately dad’s speech gradually deteriorated further and the drooling continued.

“We hoped that once he started wearing the dentures, his speech would improve and the drooling would stop, but unfortunately he never got to that stage. He experienced a loss of grip and blurred vision as new symptoms, and at that point I took him to A&E.” 

There, an MRI scan revealed that in fact Brian had an aggressive brain tumour – a left frontal high grade glioma.

“Dad was a wonderful man of whom we are very proud. He was a loving, kind and selfless man, and his family meant everything to him. 

“He enjoyed cricket and football and supported Bournemouth and Arsenal. He loved animals and in particular was a huge cat lover, owning many over the years. He would cradle them in his arms and talk to them like little people.  

“He was very sociable – a real people person. He had a great sense of humour and loved to make people laugh. Dad was a man of his word and was extremely honest, straightforward and dependable. He would help anyone if he could and he was great to talk to. 

“Sadly diagnosis came too late for our father. However, for someone who is younger, stronger or with a less aggressive tumour, if diagnosis comes more quickly then they may have a better outcome and more chance of surviving for longer.  

“This is the primary reason for us wanting to share my Dad’s story and to highlight this less common potential symptom of a brain tumour. Our hope is that people may benefit from this awareness – not just patients but also doctors, dentists and other professionals too.”