Exclusive:
A father battling stage four cancer has revealed he is now “more determined than ever” after giving a positive update today in relation to the biggest fight of his life
A father who spoke about how eating a sandwich led to a stage four cancer diagnosis has now revealed he was initially given just three weeks to live.
Des Longstaff, 39, from Blackpool, has an aggressive stage four oesophageal adenocarcinoma, which spread from his windpipe to his liver.
He has been told he is terminally ill but he is trying to prolong his life by funding alternative treatment in Germany. Des believes this will result in him being able to see his little boy, five, grow up for longer.
And in an inspiring update yesterday (April 1), he told his social media followers: “Happy with my progress today, not only have I got past my first survival prognosis of three weeks to live, I’ve put on nearly half a stone in weight since getting out of hospital.
“Battling stage four cancer, it’s obviously hard to put weight on because the cancer is eating away at you, but I’m feeling stronger and more determined than ever to beat this.”
The 10-day procedure in Germany, which he said is his best chance of a five year plus life expectancy, cost an approximate £43,000. And after raising an incredible £45,000 on GoFundMe, he has now confirmed he is going in two weeks.
Speaking to the Mirror, he said: “I would just like to say thank you to everyone that has and that still are helping me and donating to my fight against cancer. Your support and donations are greatly appreciated. Together we will beat this.”
Des is a landscape contractor and last month he spoke about his abrupt warning signs. He told Reach PLC: “I am a landscaper by trade and I was doing a job for one of my friends and his partner had made me a bacon and sausage sandwich. When I was eating it – I hadn’t put any sauce on or anything – it sort of got lodged in my oesophagus and I had a good pint of water but it still wouldn’t budge.
“It was to the point where you’re thinking you’re choking. I thought to myself, ‘Am I not chewing it properly?’”
He went to the doctors and eventually a 35cm tumour was found in his lower oesophagus on Christmas Eve after he experienced other symptoms like throwing up blood and having blood in his stool.
A scan later revealed the cancer had spread to his liver and he has since been given just 12 months to live.
Des, who said he was grateful to stay alive to see his beloved Newcastle win a trophy last month, is currently taking immunotherapy treatment to help his white blood cells to attack the cancer. He said this was to stop him dying straight away as opposed to a cure.
However, his only remaining hope to see his boy grow up is to go abroad, and explaining how it works, he said: “In Germany they have a totally different outlook. They have one of the best treatment plans over there and there is no such thing as terminal.
“If you are terminal you are riddled with it but I’m not. It has stayed localised and at the moment I have two small dots and they are going to turn into tumours if I am not careful.
“So the idea is to go to Germany where they are going to target the liver. It is basically an injection going into the liver that will give me the highest dose of chemotherapy but it will only target those two dots. They are going to cut off the main artery to the main tumour in my oesophagus and they will let that die for five days.
“They will then cut it out and scrape around my diaphragm and around my stomach lining but they will build the stomach lining up by putting mesh around it basically.”
And addressing our readers this morning, he confirmed the trip was just two weeks ago, before adding: “I am on vitamin C infusions, supplements and a high protein diet to get stronger. As soon as everything is balance, I’ll be going.”
