A make-up artist who has painted the faces of some of Hollywood’s biggest names has told of the horror of being diagnosed with the deadliest form of brain tumour, despite suffering virtually no symptoms at all.
Charlie Hounslow, 41, whose celebrity friends include Paul Mescal and Glen Powell, felt fit and well until the 48-hours leading up to her diagnosis, when she was struck with a headache.
She brushed this off as a migraine, took some painkillers and went to sleep.
‘I slept it off and thought it had passed,’ she said.
But the following day, Ms Hounslow woke up at 5am and started vomiting so severely that friends rushed her to Watford A&E in Hertfordshire.
There, an emergency scan revealed that a brain tumour had triggered bleeding in her brain.
Ms Hounslow, from St Albans, Hertfordshire, was then rushed to the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery in London for further specialist tests.
These sadly revealed that the growth was a glioblastoma—the most aggressive and deadliest form of brain tumour, which kills three quarters of patients within a year.
Charlie Hounslow, 41, whose celebrity friends include Paul Mescal and Glen Powell , felt fit and well until the 48-hours leading up to her diagnosis, when she was struck with a headache
The make-up artist has painted the faces of some of Hollywood’s biggest names. Ms Hounslow (second on the left) pictured on on the set of Gladiator II with Paul Mescal
Ms Hounslow, 41, has been diagnosed with glioblastoma—the most aggressive and deadliest form of brain tumour, which kills three quarters of patients within a year. She is pictured her applying makeup to Joanna Lumley in March this year
Even worse, medics told her the cancer was grade four, meaning it is terminal.
Recalling the moment Ms Hounslow said: ‘I thought they would just be able to take it out, I didn’t understand.’
Only around five per cent of those diagnosed with this type of brain cancer are still alive after five years.
Earlier this month Ms Hounslow underwent an awake craniotomy—a form of brain surgery where the patient remaining conscious throughout in order to monitor their cognitive functioning.
During the operation, which aimed to remove as much of the tumour as possible, she was asked to guess the name of songs playing on speakers to ensure medics avoided cutting away crucial areas of her brain.
While the NHS offered Ms Hounslow standard cancer treatment, she is instead hoping to raise $300k (£224k) for dendritic cell therapy in Germany via an online fundraiser.
This is a therapy that trains the body’s immune system to identify and kill cancer cells.
While trials of dendritic cell therapy are being run in the UK it is not currently available on the NHS as a standard treatment.
Glen Powell, who worked with Ms Hounslow on the film The Running Man, paid tribute to her ‘zest for life’ on social media. Powell pictured here in March this year in New York
Powell described as ‘a loyal and generous friend with an infectious laugh’ adding ‘Every contribution, big or small, helps get her the care she needs’
Ms Hounslow said: ‘The NHS are offering chemotherapy and radiotherapy, that is great and I know it has worked for some people, but I know that there is other treatment out there.
‘When you get given a diagnosis on this scale, you go into fight mode.’
Powell, who worked with Ms Hounslow on the film The Running Man, shared her fundraiser on Instagram urging people to donate.
‘Charlie Hounslow is a wonderful human I have the pleasure of working with every day,’ he wrote.
‘She’s a loyal and generous friend with an infectious laugh, and true zest for life.
‘Every contribution, big or small, helps get her the care she needs.’
In a post on the fundraiser Ms Hounslow’s brother Nick wrote that as of yesterday his sister had been discharged from hospital.
However, unfortunately she had suffered a seizure while staying in a nearby hotel though this thankfully appeared to have been minor, and she is recovering well.
The Wanted singer Tom Parker (pictured with his wife Kelsey Parker in October 2021) died in March 2022 following an 18-month battle with stage four glioblastoma. He said after his diagnosis that he was ‘shocked’ at the limited treatment options for GBM and ‘massive improvements’ were needed
The cancer, which is diagnosed in around 3,000 Brits and 12,000 Americans a year, is still treated in the same way it was in the early 2000s. It killed the Labour politician Dame Tessa Jowell in 2018
‘She is now on an anti seizure medication and staying until Thursday. No harm is done but she is exhausted and needs sleep,’ he wrote.
The fundraiser has so far reached just over $228,000 (£170,000).
About 3,000 Britons and 12,000 Americans are diagnosed with a glioblastoma every year.
The disease famously killed the Labour politician Dame Tessa Jowell in 2018.
In March 2022, The Wanted singer Tom Parker also died following an 18-month battle with glioblastoma.
Headaches, seizures, nausea, drowsiness, vision problems and personality changes are key symptoms.
These are caused by the tumour increasing pressure inside the skull as it grows.
Surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy are go-to treatments, but in the vast majority of cases, this only works to keep the cancer at bay for a short period of time.