Why We Do What We Do - Part IX
Derek is not a person who usually goes to the doctors, but he knew that the lump on his neck wasn’t going down, and that wasn’t right.
This story has been told to us by Derek. It is his very personal experience of cancer and highlights the importance of why we do what we do and why it is vital that we continue to fund and support the cancer research and clinical trials that can change lives.
Derek is not a person who usually goes to the doctors, but he knew that the lump on his neck wasn’t going down, and that wasn’t right.
In August 2014, Derek was diagnosed with a Squamous Cell cancerous tumour caused by the HPV virus.
Before treatment started at the Osborne Building at the Leicester Royal Infirmary, his oncologist offered him a place on a trial at the relatively new Hope Clinical Trials Facility (the predecessor to the Hope Cancer Trials Centre).
The tumour was located on his left-hand tonsil and, following their removal, treatment at the Hope Facility began in January 2015.
The trial tested the effectiveness of combining different forms of chemotherapy and radiotherapy on Derek’s neck to ensure no malignant cells remained.
Before the treatment started Derek had a ‘Peg’ feeding tube fitted, as he was warned that swallowing would be very difficult once the radiotherapy started.
The treatment lasted seven weeks visiting the hospital every weekday for radiotherapy with three equally spaced chemo sessions planned. The side effects of the chemotherapy were not good for Derek. It made him very ill which resulted in him being admitted onto the ward for a week to help with the recovery. It was decided that the last chemo session of the three planned would not be taken.
Derek described the LRI and Hope staff as ‘amazing’, adding that ‘they saved my life’.
Once the active treatments where complete, care was followed by visits from the district nurse to his home.
In the following weeks, Derek had no sense of taste following his treatments along with a dry mouth from loss of saliva and a damaged throat. He felt permanently sick and was hardly eating at all. Food mainly consisted of Fortisip nutritional drinks which he didn’t find agreeable at all. The district nurse was very concerned about his weight loss.
With help and advice from the LRI nutritionist, soup was really the best option at the time, and now, years later, Derek says that he never wants to see another soup tin, he’s had enough for a lifetime!
Once Derek was able to come off the cocktail of painkillers and other drugs, the sickness subsided and things started to improve. Derek’s wife Julie became very creative in the kitchen. Making meals with plenty of sauces or gravy to help Derek’s eating.
Treatment ended over a decade ago, but Derek’s memories seem as fresh as ever.
Since his recovery, Derek and Julie have held charity fundraisers for Hope, including a packed-out winter concert at Leicester Racecourse and some intuitive fund-raising events with their motor racing chums - featuring the Hope logo on their racing car!
They said that such wonderful moments have come out of Derek’s illness and their worries, and it all came from holding tight onto positivity.
Hope Against Cancer is extremely grateful to Derek and Julie for speaking to us about their experience with cancer. Such stories really bring home the importance of having the very best local cancer research and care available right on our doorstep.
John Nellis
Content and Communications Officer, Hope Against Cancer
