That was really my first cancer diagnosis – a double whammy of prostate and sarcoma cancers.
45 stories for 45 years. Throughout 2026, we’re sharing the stories of our clients, volunteers and staff who make the Wessex Cancer Support community what it is.
Through our community’s lived experience of cancer, we can provide our clients with the tailored support they need.
This time Nick, a client at our Waterside Centre, shares his experience.
My journey started in 1996 with being taken ill at work. 30 years later, it continues and there have definitely been some ups and downs along the way.
I was 36 and living in Hertfordshire with my wife and daughters then. I started losing blood at work so rang my Doctor. He said “call me again in the morning if you get no better”. The following morning, my brother-in-law was driving me to A&E. I spent the following few days in various hospitals trying to work out what the problem was. Then Hammersmith Hospital found a tumour. They called it a GANT – a gastro-intestinal autotomic nerve tumour – which is pretty rare but which they thought was benign. I had an operation to remove it that resulted in my organs going into shock and had five days in ITU. A had a few weeks’ recovery followed by 10 years of follow-ups, before I was discharged. No one ever discussed the possibility of cancer.
Fast forward to 2018, I had a PSA text that diagnosed prostate cancer and the scans also discovered I had a large mass in my liver. Turns out it had metastasised from the original tumour I’d had in 1996. This time, they classified it as a GIST – gastro-intestinal stromal tumour – which is again quite rare. The word cancer was finally discussed for the first time.
That was really my first cancer diagnosis – a double whammy of prostate and sarcoma cancers.
The GIST had progressed from a tumour 22 years ago and I was really quite numb with the diagnosis. I had a few other health issues at the time but the word cancer was the big one. I didn’t know what direction life would go next.
Due to the tumour’s size and urgency to remove the GIST, I was put on hormone tables to manage the prostrate cancer and treatment for that was put on hold to prioritise the GIST.
I needed to have two thirds of my liver resected to remove the tumour. I was turned down by two hospitals as they thought they couldn’t operate – which really escalated my fear. I didn’t know how I would deal with this and my wife and daughter were very concerned. But I ended up at the Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead Heath and the procedure was booked. Due to loss of blood during surgery, I went into cardiac arrest on the operating table – but I guess that’s probably the best place if you’re going to have one! It was sorted but I then went into a coma and spent a week in intensive care and another in the HDU.
As I recovered, I then started chemotherapy and brachytherapy for the prostate cancer, then had the spinal surgery I’d also been waiting for – all in the space of about 3 months. The GIST tumour is being monitored by UCHL in London. They do a tremendous job and I see them just yearly now.
I’m on a chemo’ tablet for life but it’s so far so good – they keep classing me as ‘NED’ (no evidence of disease).
Although I have some side effects from the tablet, the fallout from the prostate cancer is actually worse. The radiation therapy has left me with some ongoing side effects that I’m learning to manage. But I definitely consider myself lucky; if it hadn’t been for the prostate cancer they wouldn’t have found the liver tumour, so I would certainly have been dead by now. I’m so thankful for the NHS treatment and I feel lucky that I’m still alive.
I feel like I get a ‘win’ every year, each time I get my PSA results and my sarcoma is reported as NED. I have been told it is a question of when (not if) the next tumour appears but I think, the longer I am reported as being OK, there is no reason what I can’t go on being OK for a long while.
I think I’ve got my head around it now, and my wife and daughter have been so supportive throughout. And I consider myself lucky compared to other people’s experiences.
We moved to the New Forest when I took early retirement four years ago. In February this year, when my side-effects were giving me a lot of pain, we ended up calling paramedics at 2 o’clock on a Saturday morning. They were amazing and spent about 3 hours with us. Chatting to my wife and I, one of them asked if I’d ever considered counselling to help with my diagnosis and my anxiety. Long-story short, that’s how I found Wessex Cancer Support’s Waterside Centre.
Wessex Cancer Support has been a breath of fresh air! The minute I walked through the doors, I had a slice of cake and a coffee thrust in my hand, and I was surrounded by open, loving people. I was really, really impressed with the team and what’s on offer.
It feels like I have an outlet that I hadn’t had before. It’s definitely the most positive thing that’s happened to me for a long while.
In a very short space of time, Wessex Cancer Support has helped me and opened my eyes; I was invited in. If, in a small way, my story can encourage someone else to visit, I think that will be so beneficial. You can only gain knowledge and experience of cancer by talking to others who have experienced it, and that’s a really helpful thing to do.
My wife and I love being here, it’s such a beautiful place. My daughter is grown-up now and recently married; she still lives in Bedfordshire but we see each other often, we’re still very close. Our next milestone is my wife fully retiring, too, so we can finally enjoy retirement properly, as we had planned a few years ago but never quite got to do. We’re looking forward to a quiet pace of life, lovely long walks in the New Forest and enjoying the wonderful countryside down here!
Our community provides a safe, supportive space for people affected by cancer. Through our emotional and wellbeing services, we provide the support to our communities in Dorset, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.
We’ve been here for you since 1981.
You can call or email your local cancer support centre today, or drop in to speak to our friendly team.
And if you would like to learn more about volunteering and becoming part of #TeamWessex, you can see more about becoming a volunteer here.
