Cancer Research UK has revealed that hundreds of thousands of cancer patients have experienced delays or cancellations to their treatment. A survey by the charity reported that one in three cancer patients across the UK were impacted by the pandemic - with hundreds potentially losing their chance of treatment.
Given my history, I was horrified to read about a man who had been due to have an operation for colon cancer before the pandemic, but had it cancelled and has now been told that his cancer is terminal.
In July 2018, Adrian Rogers, 46, was diagnosed with stage four bowel cancer, but after 18 months of chemotherapy, his surgeon said that the six tumours on his colon and liver were in an operable state in February this year. So surgery was slated for early April - but Covid-19 meant that the hospital board decided it was "too risky" to go ahead..... and postponed the operation.
Now, he has been told that his cancer is terminal - as the number of tumours has now grown to 20 on his liver alone - and they are no longer operable.
https://www.mirror.co.uk/science/man-fi ... t-22574001
But his wife has discovered a potentially life-saving drug called Avastin, which could get Adrian back to being operable again. It is administered alongside chemotherapy and prevents tumours from regrowing, but treatment costs £600 per fortnight - and whilst his doctors are willing to use it, it is not available on the NHS, so the family would have to fund the drug themselves.
So she has set up a fundraising page in an attempt to pay for treatment - and has so far raised over £10,000 towards a £20,000 target, allowing Adrian to receive his first dose of the drug on 4th September. Her page is https://www.gofundme.com/f/cancer-treatment-for-adrian.
Hopefully she will be able to raise enough for the treatment to be successful and for Adrian to regain the chance of beating the cancer. He is just another victim of the pandemic, but never had COVID-19.
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