A Dunedin family man battling a rare brain cancer is working hard to return home.
Tim Doidge (35) said as his health deteriorated, he lost control of the left side of his body, struggled to speak and was having to learn how to walk again.
All the while, Dunedin Hospital doctors were striving to diagnose his brain disorder.
His wife Karline (30) said her husband had brain tissue removed in April and May to help doctors make ''their best guess'' at the disorder.
The probable diagnosis was T-cell central nervous system lymphoma, she said.
The ''ridiculously rare'' disease affected one in two million people and its rarity meant little was known about how to treat it.
Mr Doidge said the most extensive research had studied 40 people with the disease.
''Emotionally, it's been really hard. It was only 40 people but none of them survived after three years,'' he said yesterday, holding back the tears.
He hoped to be the one to buck the trend.
''You've gotta have hope,'' Mr Doidge said.
His children, Anika (5), Oskar (3) and Emily (9 months) were never far from his mind, he said.
He was having chemotherapy today and his rehabilitation work at the Isis Centre at Wakari Hospital had increased in the hope of having him home on July 27.
Before he became sick, Mr Doidge - an electrical and programming technician - had been renovating the family's 1890s cottage in Russell St, City Rise.
''There's still a lot to do,'' he said.
Friends and family have organised a working bee this weekend to complete renovation work and some businesses have offered help.
Mrs Doidge said the children were coping remarkably well, partly because of the incredible support.
She wanted to thank Russell Street Childcare Centre, Mornington School and Bellyful Dunedin for going ''above and beyond'', and donors. A fundraising page has been created to help the family.
''It's really nice how the community has come together. It's amazing. We are very lucky to be living here.''
Donations can be made at www.givealittle.co.nz/cause/timdoidgerecovery
