Help Andy get his life back
Donation protected
This is my BIG bro Andy. He was diagnosed with Oesophagus Cancer 2 years ago. Andy underwent chemotherapy and a high risk operation to remove a large tumour from his oesophagus. The tumour was successfully removed but unfortunately Andy has been left with many serious complications from the operation, which have changed his life dramatically.
Andy suffers daily from the debilitating effects from the surgery. He is unable to eat and drink and is fed via a tube. He also suffers from continuous chest infections, whilst coughing up fluid 24/7. Andy has gone from a fit healthy young bear of a man, to a very poorly person. He is just half the man he was and is very susceptible to infections leaving him very vulnerable. His wife Sonia cares for him at home each day.
Our challenge as a family for the last 2 years has been to find someone that can fix Andy’s oesophagus without a high risk invasive operation. We found a consultant at UCLH, who has attempted 3 times to fix Andy's oesophagus by endoscopy but unfortunately each attempt has failed so we began to look elsewhere for help.
Andy's wife Sonia has dedicated all of her time to finding someone to help Andy, and remarkably she found a stem cell consultant in Rome, Italy offering pioneering treatment. At the end of January 2021 Andy flew out to Rome to have stem cell treatment on his oesophagus. This trip has been self-funded, however Andy is likely to require three further visits to Italy at an estimated cost of £20k - £22k per trip to try to complete this stage of his recovery. If successful this treatment will help Andy gain strength so that he can withstand any future treatment available to him to fight the cancer if it returns. Andy is due to go back to Italy for more treatment on 6th March 2021.
As a family having to watch Andy endure the most torturous 2 years of his life has been heart-breaking. This situation has taken it's toll on Andy mentally and physically, he has looked death in the face on a number of occasions and it's only due to Andy's strength of character that he is still here, he fights to get his life back, and we will do all that to help him achieve that.
So, we are reaching out to friends, family and kind hearted people that would like to help us with the continuous battle to get Andy back to good health so that he can enjoy one of life's simple pleasures of eating and drinking again, this would improve his quality of life tremendously.
Please note that we will be organising a fund raising event once we come out of lockdown, so we will keep you posted on this.
Thank you for taking the time to read Andy's story, all donations will be gratefully received.
The photo's below are of Andy living life before cancer and then post operation.
Andy with me, my son Ted and his daughter Leia prior to being diagnosed with Cancer
Andy with his wife Sonia
A picture of Andy at Christmas 2020
Andy & Sonia on the plane flying to Italy in January 2021 for treatment
Andy suffers daily from the debilitating effects from the surgery. He is unable to eat and drink and is fed via a tube. He also suffers from continuous chest infections, whilst coughing up fluid 24/7. Andy has gone from a fit healthy young bear of a man, to a very poorly person. He is just half the man he was and is very susceptible to infections leaving him very vulnerable. His wife Sonia cares for him at home each day.
Our challenge as a family for the last 2 years has been to find someone that can fix Andy’s oesophagus without a high risk invasive operation. We found a consultant at UCLH, who has attempted 3 times to fix Andy's oesophagus by endoscopy but unfortunately each attempt has failed so we began to look elsewhere for help.
Andy's wife Sonia has dedicated all of her time to finding someone to help Andy, and remarkably she found a stem cell consultant in Rome, Italy offering pioneering treatment. At the end of January 2021 Andy flew out to Rome to have stem cell treatment on his oesophagus. This trip has been self-funded, however Andy is likely to require three further visits to Italy at an estimated cost of £20k - £22k per trip to try to complete this stage of his recovery. If successful this treatment will help Andy gain strength so that he can withstand any future treatment available to him to fight the cancer if it returns. Andy is due to go back to Italy for more treatment on 6th March 2021.
As a family having to watch Andy endure the most torturous 2 years of his life has been heart-breaking. This situation has taken it's toll on Andy mentally and physically, he has looked death in the face on a number of occasions and it's only due to Andy's strength of character that he is still here, he fights to get his life back, and we will do all that to help him achieve that.
So, we are reaching out to friends, family and kind hearted people that would like to help us with the continuous battle to get Andy back to good health so that he can enjoy one of life's simple pleasures of eating and drinking again, this would improve his quality of life tremendously.
Please note that we will be organising a fund raising event once we come out of lockdown, so we will keep you posted on this.
Thank you for taking the time to read Andy's story, all donations will be gratefully received.
The photo's below are of Andy living life before cancer and then post operation.
Andy with me, my son Ted and his daughter Leia prior to being diagnosed with Cancer
Andy with his wife Sonia
A picture of Andy at Christmas 2020
Andy & Sonia on the plane flying to Italy in January 2021 for treatment
Organizer
Colette Rayner
Organizer
