So, my story begins in 2004/5 when a routine check-up because I was having difficulty in swallowing some foods i.e. bread steak etc was causing me some concerns, I still felt very fit and at 42 and in the fire service we were sure it wasn’t too much to worry about. But I was sent for an endoscopy to make sure, when the results came back and I went into the hospital for a chat about my results I was taken into a room with 4 other staff members in attendance to be told the results weren’t good and I had a tumour stage 4 oesophageal cancer very aggressive.
No chance of surgery at this stage, but to start chemotherapy straight away. I felt totally numb and was sure they had made a mistake as I felt perfectly fit and went on duty for my afternoon shift that day not quite sure of the information, I’d been given that morning. When I arrived home that evening my wife asked me how I got on at the hospital? I proceeded to tell her what they had said and then the realisation hit home, and I was left feeling totally numb, the prognosis was that if we couldn’t shrink the tumour my time was 12 months to live. As you can imagine being married with 3 young children was too much to bear and it all seemed like a bad dream and how could I tell my kids their dad had 12 months to live? The pain was unbearable just thinking about it. My only hope was to rely on my fitness and hope the chemotherapy worked. But thankfully after many bouts of chemo the tumour had shrunk to a size that enabled them to carry out surgery which was the Ivor Lewis surgery removing my oesophagus and replacing with half my stomach.
So after 2 weeks in ICU & HDU and keeping my fitness I came home 4 stone lighter and struggling to keep any food down at all , but with perseverance and a lot to live for my weight slowly returned and I returned to work in my role as a firefighter, but a year later whilst on duty I collapsed and had to be rushed into hospital by ambulance. The following morning when I woke up the surgeon told me the operation to correct my problem had been resolved but unfortunately the cancer had spread to my liver and being stage 2 no chance of surgery with a prognosis of 12 months at best.
So back on the chemotherapy treatment I’d had for my oesophagus as I faired quite well on it last time and hoped for a miracle, approximately a year later my doctor called me into he’s room at the hospital and showed me my latest scans and said he thought we had a chance of surgery as the tumour had shrunk considerably and if I consented he would be happy to carry out the procedure to remove the left lobe on my liver . So, we agreed to the operation which I had the following May, and the surgery was completed, and all biopsies came back saying all clear no signs of any cancer.
That was over 20 years ago now and I did get to see my children grow up and now I have 3 lovely grandchildren and I’m still working in and around the fire service to this day and fingers crossed I will for a few more years and carry on being there on the end of the phone for the buddy service I do for the OPA .
