David get to Germany for life saving cancer treatment
Donation protected
For anyone that might not be aware, our dad was diagnosed with Stage 4 terminal Oesophageal cancer in November 2024. Due to how aggressive oesophageal cancer is, his oncologist delivered the devastating news that the prognosis is poor and with treatment here in the UK, dad may have around a year to live.
This came as a huge shock to us all as we thought dad had beaten cancer earlier in the year. Dad endured 8 gruelling rounds of chemotherapy along with a huge 8 hour operation to remove his entire oesophagus. The operation went well and dad completed the remainder of his treatment in the hope he would be declared cancer free. Upon a recent scan in November 2024, we were advised that dad’s cancer had relapsed and this time it was terminal. The cancer had spread to his liver and lymph nodes in his chest. Dad has already started chemotherapy which is the only treatment option available as he wasn’t a match for immunotherapy. The chemotherapy is gruelling and dad is already struggling after the first round.
After desperate searching and countless appointments with private hospitals for second options, we came across the option of treatment in Germany which are not available in the UK. Dendritic Cell Therapy (DCT) treatments present the opportunity of being able to stop the metastasis and train dads immune system to recognise cancer cells and kill them using his own dendritic cells and create a memory to remember this recognition in the future. It may not completely rid dad of the tumours, but it would stop the spread and give him more time without the extremely damaging side effects of the chemo treatment he has been offered in the UK. The clinics have since reviewed dad’s scans and medical records. They said they could actually eradicate these tumours through a treatment called TACE (trans arterial chemoembolization). This treatment targets each tumour individually and cuts off the blood vessel supply that is feeding them. Injecting into these vessels a high intensity chemo drug and cauterising the blood vessels so they cannot be used again to feed them. This would kill off the tumour completely and stop it from regrowth. Not only is this a direct targeted treatment. The side effects are a lot less, as the chemo is not being pumped all around the body, just kept local to the area, minimising side effects massively, but with far more significant success. They have said dad is suitable for this treatment and suggested combining the two treatments, TACE and DCT, which could potentially get dad into remission. The total cost for both treatments is £27,000.
We hope to travel to Germany in Feburary for this potentially life saving treatment. They’ve advised we need to being ASAP for the best result. Dad is strong and determined to beat this as he’s said he has so much to live for. The treatment in Germany is our only chance to potentially cure his cancer, if not massively improve his poor prognosis.
It’s a lot to ask and we don’t expect to raise anywhere as much as the treatment will amount to, however any donations towards dad’s treatment would be so hugely appreciated. Any amount at all is helpful and we appreciate it’s not the best of timing to be asking for donations.
Anyone who knows our dad will know he’s the most gentle, caring soul who would do anything to help anyone out. He loves his family more than anything and wants nothing more than to spend as much time as he can with his wife, two daughters and his little grandson Noah.
Organizer
Grace Dimmock
Organizer
England