A father diagnosed with cancer has been told he has 12 months to live – after first noticing a symptom while eating a sandwich.
Des Longstaff was tucking into the bacon and sausage sarnie at work when part of the snack became lodged in his oesophagus.
The 39-year-old landscaper was told by his doctor to have an endoscopy, before he vomited blood and noticed bleeding in his stools.
On Christmas Eve last year medics discovered a 35 centimetre tumour in his lower oesophagus.
It was later found that the stage four oesophageal adenocarcinoma had also spread to his liver, severely limiting his options for treatment.
The aggressive cancer is the most common form of the oesophagus in the UK and occurs more in men than women, according to Cancer Research. It typically cannot be cured.
Unable to have keyhole surgery, Mr Longstaff is now undergoing aggressive chemotherapy treatment as well as immunotherapy to train his body to respond to and attack the cancer.
Having been given just 12 months to live, he is looking to go to Germany for a treatment which may help give him more precious time with his five-year-old son.
Des Longstaff was diagnosed with oesophageal adenocarcinoma after feeling unusual symptoms when eating a bacon and sausage sandwich
Mr Longstaff has been given 12 months to live but is looking to go to Germany for new treatments to give him more precious time with his five-year-old son.
His family are also exploring other treatments to help shrink the tumour, including herbal medicines, vitamin C and B12 IV infusions and hyperbaric oxygen therapy.
He told Bristol Live: ‘The NHS has only given me 12 months to live.’
Mr Longstaff added that his immunotherapy treatment is ‘palliative and it is to keep me comfortable so I don’t die straight away’.
His mother Tracy has raised more than £32,000 through a GoFundMe page to send him to Germany for a new treatment which could give him more than five years to live.
She wrote: ‘Our beloved Des has recently been diagnosed with advanced oesophageal adenocarcinoma (T3N3MX) which is now stage 4 , an aggressive and life-threatening form of cancer.
‘This devastating news has shaken us to the core, but we are resolute in fighting this battle together.’
She added: ‘Des is unable to work and will not be able to for the foreseeable future, we are exploring new treatments in Germany to give Des the best chance of a 5 year plus life expectancy.’
The ten-day procedure, costing around £42,000, would involve injecting his liver with a high dose of chemotherapy.
Doctors would then cut off the main tumour in his oesophagus from the artery and leave it to die for five days before cutting it out.
His stomach lining would be built up by putting mesh around it.
The landscape contractor first experienced symptoms after eating a sandwich which became lodged in his oesophagus, before doctors discovered a tumour
Explaining in Germany there is no such thing as ‘terminal’, adding ‘they have one of the best treatments out there’.
While he says his cancer has stayed localised, there remain ‘two small dots’ which could turn into tumours without further intervention.
He said the treatment was his ‘only hope’ to see more of his young boy, ‘the apple of his eye’ .
‘It is my only hope to see my five-year-old boy grow up. He is the apple of my eye’, he said.
