Dave Paxton was just picking up a repeat prescription when a pharmacist saved his life
A dad was diagnosed with cancer after his pharmacist asked him a routine question while he was ordering a repeat prescription. Dave Paxton, 38, was ordering medication for anxiety and was about to hang up when the pharmacist asked – “Any other concerns?”
Engineering-manager Dave confessed his stools were a darker colour – something he would never have visited the doctor to discuss. A GP appointment four days later resulted in an endoscopy which revealed he had cancer of the duodenum – the first part of the small intestine.
A CT scan a day later revealed it was a grade four squamous cell tumour – and Dave has one of just 22 confirmed cases worldwide. It has spread to his liver and is pushing on his pancreas, and is bleeding so Dave needs a blood transfusion every four days.
Doctors haven’t given a prognosis, he said, but he’s having six months of chemotherapy to reduce the tumour’s size, and radiotherapy to try and stop the bleeding. Dave is having his treatment funded through a workplace private health insurance policy.
Duodenal squamous-cell tumours are so rare that there have been no trials for the success of immunotherapy, so Dave can’t get this treatment on his health insurance, or on the NHS. He is fundraising £180,000 needed for 24 sessions.
Dave, from Burton-on-Trent, Staffordshire, said: “This is terrifying and the treatment side effects are horrendous, but I’m very grateful to the pharmacist for checking in with me. I had noticed but wasn’t thinking much of it.
“The diagnosis was such a shock. All I could think about was my son, I just burst into tears. But I also knew I had to get on with it. The cancer is so rare they just can’t say how long I have, only that they are treating me to prolong my life.
“One of the nurses was so helpful, he just said ‘you can beat this’ go home and put on music, do the things you enjoy, don’t lie down and give up.”
After his pharmacist chat on February 7, he had an endoscopy on March 6. Even playing with his son Stanley, nine, and walking the dog leave Dave drained, he said. “It all feels very scary, and it’s a constant and exhausting battle every day,” he said.
Dave has had two months of chemotherapy already, has just started radiotherapy and immunotherapy. To have a squamous-cell tumour in your duodenum is extremely rare, and it’s even more rare for Dave who is young compared to most patients with this condition.
He said: “They don’t know how I got it so young, they just said it’s ‘bad luck’.”
He says immunotherapy has good results for tackling squamous-cell tumours. He said: “After six months hopefully I’ll be in remission and looking towards Christmas and a new start.
“Unless you’ve been through something like this, you really don’t understand how precious life is. I just want as much time as I can get with my family.”
https://gofund.me/7d7105d5