Winning The Battle - Dean's Story

I was diagnosed with mesothelioma on the 6th December 2007, aged 38 following admission to hospital with pneumonia/fluid on the left lung. The medical teams have been fantastic and I wanted to offer my time and experiences to date to help anyone who wants to talk as a way of giving something back. So, my story begins...

As you can imagine our world fell apart on that day and for weeks, looking at our 2 young children was simply too much to bear at times. All those promises I made to my wife/children, plans for our lives together... up in smoke as I could be dead in 2 to 5 years!!!!

But then something kicked in, within me. I am a positive person at the worst of times and I recall 3 days after confirmation of the cancer saying to myself...."okay, you can handle this two ways, feel sorry for yourself and let this disease consume you or try and become the exception and beat this cancer and leave a positive legacy with your family". The later part of my pep talk may appear to be bravado and against all medical advice/knowledge but I have to believe that a way will be found to beat this and the best place to start is in my head/heart.

Since that fateful day, I have been exercising everyday, changed my diet and even continued to work until I was referred to Mr. Waller at Glenfields Hospital, Leicester in February. I completed a lymph gland biopsy and other tests and subsequently underwent the EPP operation five days later where my left lung, heart lining and part of my diaphragm were removed.

Mr. Waller and the staff at Glenfield were and are amazing and as a result I left hospital six days later, 16th March. The recovery at home was tiring/painful at times but something just keeps you going and saying "come on, you can do this". The thoracic team at Glenfield were always available for advice/help. I returned to Mr. Waller's clinic on the 18th April walking with full movement in my left shoulder and I even drove my wife and I to the appointment.

Since then I have restarted the gym, albeit a lighter program, swimming and enjoying being active once again with my wife/children. Life is almost back to normal, well as normal as it can be. The speed of my recovery from the EPP has simply reinforced my resolve to win........I cannot and will not contemplate failure.

So the next part of the journey is hemi-thoracic radiotherapy. This will start in 4 to 5 weeks once the planning activity is complete.

It appears at the beginning of this journey that I was lucky, the cancer was caught very early. I am at the hands of the best medical team possible and when I have a low moment my wife and children remind me without saying a word......"you have to win this battle no matter what the odds or how high the mountain and I truly believe I will".

Update: 23rd April 2009

At last, the 6 weeks of hemi-thoracic radiotherapy are finished. I must admit the side effects were stronger than I expected/planned for, especially the sickness and tiredness.

Once again, my wife, children, parents and friends have been fantastic. It cannot be nice for them to see me sick/unwell and very tired constantly.

So, as everyday goes by now I am getting stronger and more my normal self. We will now focus on enjoying the remainder of the summer holidays with our children.

So for now, I am thankful that another hurdle has been completed and we now enjoy each day as it comes and savour each moment.

The 18 weeks (6 cycles) of chemotherapy started on the 17th Oct and completed on the 6th February. The initial treatments did not seem to affect me in any adverse way, but then came the 3rd and 4th. Then it hit ,but somehow you find the strength and will to get through it. My treatment was changed from the 5th cycle onwards due to kidney damage, which we knew could happen, and the damage is only short term. As a result of the treatment change, the side effects were reduced. Throughout all my chemo treatments, I kept my hair...bonus!!

Now the chemotherapy is all complete, the results are excellent are life is returning to some normality, as best it can. We have taken 2 holidays since March (Maldives and Turkey) and on the 21st April I returned to work, albeit part time initially. The final piece of the puzzle was the successful conclusion of our legal claim. So at last, we can look forward with our heads held high, a positive outlook and take each day/week/month as it comes.

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