A sporty dad-of-four has revealed the shocking symptoms he dismissed before being diagnosed with an ultra-rare cancer hidden in his sinuses.
Brian McNamara thought he was suffering from a painful ear infection - known as 'swimmer's ear' - after it got 'clogged' in November but found that antibiotics didn't improve his headaches.
The 44-year-old, from Freehold, New Jersey, was rushed to hospital later that month after becoming bedbound by his symptoms, which developed into facial numbness and double vision.
An MRI scan and biopsy revealed a malignant tumor in his sinuses called Nasopharyngeal Small Cell Neuroendocrine Carcinoma - which a study showed only 17 people in the past 20 years have had.
High school teacher Brian, who used his home's pool regularly, says he was told by doctors that he had a 50 percent chance of beating the disease.
His wife Jodi McNamara, 46, says his multiple rounds of chemotherapy and proton beam therapy have shrunk the tumor but he does require costly immunotherapy treatment.
She claims that because the treatment is signed off for use on lungs rather than sinuses their insurance provider is refusing to pay for it.
Their GoFundMe to cover Brian's loss of earnings, travel expenses, and treatment has raised more than $65,600 so far.
Brian McNamara, 44, from New Jersey, has revealed the shocking symptoms he dismissed before being diagnosed with an ultra-rare cancer hidden in his sinuses
An MRI scan and biopsy revealed a malignant tumor in his sinuses called Nasopharyngeal Small Cell Neuroendocrine Carcinoma
Brian said: 'It started in July 2024 when my ear felt like it was clogged but I just thought it was swimmer's ear.
'I'd been swimming and spending a lot of time in the pool we have at home, so I just thought it was something like that - I didn't think too much of it.
'I had some random headaches and it felt like a typical sinus infection.
'When I went back to school to teach in September the headaches became more frequent.
'By the start of November I was getting headaches every day but I just put it down to my sinuses so I tried some over-the-counter stuff, but that didn't work.
'Jodi finally convinced me to go to the walk-in and they prescribed me antibiotics because they thought it was a sinus infection as well.
'On Thanksgiving, I was in bed all day with a debilitating headache and that's when I started getting numbness in my face and jaw and I started having double vision.
'We went to the emergency room the day after and I was admitted to hospital.
High school teacher Brian, who used his home's pool regularly, says he was told by doctors that he had a 50 percent chance of beating the disease
'It's a cancer that usually resides in the lungs but because mine resides in the sinuses, it's extremely rare.
'We asked our oncologist not to sugarcoat anything.
'They gave me a 50-50 shot at beating this, but all I thought was, "Well, I'm going to be in the 50 percent that beats this."
'It didn't scare me. I just take one day at a time. I'm still fighting.'
A worldwide study published last year claims only seventeen cases of his form of cancer have been in the past twenty years.
Jodi admits she was 'terrified' by the condition her husband was in before diagnosis and then was much less optimistic than Brian after it.
Jodi said: 'I definitely wasn't as optimistic as Brian when I first heard the diagnosis. I did a lot of crying.
Brian started chemotherapy and proton beam therapy in December 2024 and completed his final round of each earlier in March 2025
'Brian was in a really, really bad state before we went to the cancer hospital, and seeing him like that was terrifying.
'I cried the majority of the day at the beginning.
'I was terrified and didn't know what the future was going to look like because I was afraid I was going to lose him and I still am.
'Even if the first initial treatment is successful, it's very difficult to keep it away.
'Our medical oncologist told us that that's the hardest part about this cancer.
'They don't even have a treatment plan for this particular type of cancer because they're treating it as if it's in the lungs. They're following a lung protocol.
'To say that I was scared and devastated and blindsided is an understatement, I was terrified.'
Brian started chemotherapy and proton beam therapy in December 2024 and completed his final round of each earlier in March 2025.
Brian started chemotherapy and proton beam therapy in December 2024 and completed his final round of each earlier in March 2025
Scans in mid-April will confirm how effective the treatment has been but Jodi says the tumor has shown positive signs of shrinking so far.
Jodi says the couple are battling to have Brian's immunotherapy covered by their health insurance.
Jodi said: 'Our health insurance continues to deny the money for the immunotherapy.
'We're on a second-level appeal - we have our politicians involved, Brian's employer, health care professionals, and the local senator.
'The insurance [doesn't] want to approve it because the treatment was FDA approved for this exact cancer in the lungs and in the sinuses, so they're using that as a loophole.
'It's $12,000 to $15,000 every three to four weeks.
'This [immunotherapy] has been shown to have some improvement of keeping this away, and he's had a favorable response to treatment so far.
'He has more scans mid April so we'll know how well the treatment has gone, but so far it has shrunk it.
'We need that immunotherapy to continue that favorable outcome.
'We've reached the three-to-four-week mark and we're just hitting a brick wall with them [the insurance providers]. It's been very daunting and stress-inducing.'
Brian says it has been 'incredible' to see how friends and the American football community have rallied around to help raise money.
Brian said: 'Players have reached out from 20 years ago and given donations. It's been incredible.
'It was very humbling to see that so many people have come together to support us.
'I couldn't believe it, it's been incredible and has made it much easier to fight.'
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