Cancer diagnosis ‘felt like death sentence’, but Luke’s battling on
WHEN Luke Thomas found a strange-looking mole on his back that had started turning black, he didn’t think there was anything too serious to worry about.
But Luke, who lives in Kidwelly, thought it was best to get it checked out to be on the safe side and visited his local GP surgery in 2014.
The doctors confirmed that it was melanoma skin cancer but luckily it was isolated and could be surgically removed.
Five years later, in 2019, Luke, who was working in architecture in London and had fallen in love with his partner Yuri, found another unusual mole on his arm.
The mole was again confirmed to be cancerous but was localised and once again surgically removed.
But something wasn’t quite right and the 35-year-old started to feel weak and nauseous, then he noticed small swellings in his arm and decided to go back to the hospital to get it checked out.
“I was really ignorant about skin cancer. I thought well it’s just skin, it can just be cut out. I didn’t think it was anything major,” said Luke.
But results from the biopsy confirmed Luke’s worst fears.
“As soon as I walked into the consultant’s room for results, I saw the nurse holding a pack of leaflets and my gut sank, I knew.”
The diagnosis was confirmed to be stage 4 metastatic melanoma, which had spread across the skin and the lymph nodes.
“It felt like a death sentence,” added Luke.
“I was in complete shock, the outlook wasn’t good, it was a bad diagnosis.”
Tragically, told that the incurable.
But the 35-year-old said he still felt hopeful about the future due to how quickly life-prolonging treatments were evolving.
At the beginning of 2020, Luke started immunotherapy, a type of cancer treatment that helps the immune system recognise and attack cancer cells.
But Luke’s health deteriorated, he lost weight and at one point said that he was in so much pain that he couldn’t lift his arms to go into a PET scan. He then started on targeted treatment which he continues to have now.
“After a couple of days I could literally see tumours
Luke was cancer was reducing but I have had side effects. I have my good days and bad days, but my quality of life is good. But I am in my ninth month of this treatment and they say it has a shelf life of 12 to 14 months, which isn’t great,” laughed Luke.
The inspirational 35-year-old, who has moved back to Kidwelly, said he remained positive and that he had many years to look forward to.
Now he is desperate to raise more awareness for skin cancer, especially among young people.
“Skin cancer is on the up, especially with young people. Anything questionable, make sure you get it checked. It might be nothing, but do it for peace of mind,” he said.
“Take care of your skin, protect it against the sun, against sunbeds, everything like that, just take care of it,” he added.
And despite his treatment and prognosis, Luke is also determined to raise money for Melanoma Focus by walking the 870mile round journey of the Welsh Coastal Path. A Just Giving page follows his journey and had raised a staggering £5,500 in only five days.
But more than just the money and awareness raised, Luke said the challenge was a way to show that there was life after a cancer diagnosis.
“I know it’s going to be tough, mentally and physically, but I also know I need it for my mental and physical health.
“The support has been amazing and I can’t believe how much money we’ve raised in only a couple of days. I’m making the most of my life. I’ve had an amazing life and I still have an amazing life.”
A YOUNG farmer says he has been given a “second chance at life” after undergoing a double transplant during the coronavirus pandemic.
Carwyn Jones, who had been on the waiting list for four years, received both a kidney and pancreas transplant in August 2020 at the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff.
Despite being a Type 1 diabetic from the age of two, Carwyn, 33, from Pontsian, Ceredigion, never thought he would experience ill-health so early into his adulthood.
“I was never ill as a child. The only impact my diabetes had on me was having to inject insulin twice a day, which soon became second nature growing up,” he said.
“At school I was on the rugby team and it soon became one of my passions. I relished the competitive nature of the sport.
“In 2014 I set up my own business as a tyre fitter, and as I far as I was aware I led a healthy and active life.”
Only two years later, in 2016, Carwyn’s life completely changed after collapsing on his way to work.
“I was rushed to A&E in Carmarthen, and after a series of tests they discovered my heart wasn’t functioning recalled.
“The next thing I knew, I was attached to a haemodialysis system and I was told my kidneys were failing and I would need dialysis treatment to keep me alive.
“Dialysis made me feel low, exhausted and drained. I was also frustrated by the situation. I kept asking myself, ‘why me?.’
“I was almost 30 and had just started my own business – I really thought the world was my oyster. I had to give up my work and my hobbies. My world, it seemed, was turned upside down.”
Carwyn said he was by far the youngest person at properly,” he the dialysis unit, and this alone was difficult to accept.
“I wasn’t old and frail. I should have been enjoying life with my friends, not depending on a machine to help me survive.
“At first I visited hospital to receive dialysis treatment, but after two years I moved to a home dialysis machine in September 2018 where I was on dialysis five times a week. The effects of dialysis meant I had to eventually give up my business. This was the hardest thing.”
Three years on from the initial diagnosis, in 2019, Carwyn received a call about a possible transplant match.
He said: “After three years on the transplant list, I finally received the call I was waiting for. I imagined for a second what my life could become without dialysis.
“They do warn you that it may not go ahead, and unfortunately this was the case. I was shattered, but I picked myself up and told myself that I’m still alive and my time would come soon.”
Unfortunately, Carwyn’s second call was also a false alarm. “It’s hard to keep positive when you’re so close to changing your life,” he admitted.
A fortnight after his second phone call, it was
third time lucky for Carwyn when he was called to the University Hospital of Wales to receive a double pancreas and kidney transplant during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“I had a phone call early in the morning on August 12. They told me they had a potential match and I had a feeling this time it was for real,” he said.
“I made my way to the University Hospital of Wales and after numerous tests, I underwent a double pancreas and kidney transplant.
“The care I received while in hospital was phenomenal and everyone
made me feel safe. It’s hard to believe that in a period of such despair, I was given a second opportunity at life.
“All I know about my donor is he was a 49-yearold man who suffered a bleed on the brain. I can’t imagine what his family must have been through, but I honestly cannot thank them enough. The decision they have made means that I’m able to eventually go back to work, watch my nieces grow up and finally enjoy life in its entirety.
“I think that it’s crucial that people talk to their families and register their organ donation decision. It affects people of all ages, and organ donation for most people is their last chance of a ‘normal’ life.”
Now in a recovery period, Carwyn is currently shielding but feels better than ever.
“My health is improving every day. I have more energy and I’m in less pain. I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. I’m taking it slow, but my dream of going to watch the Lions tour in South Africa is edging closer to a reality.”
If you want to donate your organs, it’s important to make a decision. Register it by calling 0300 123 23 23 or visiting https://beta. gov.wales/organ-donation-campaign and also have “the organ donation chat” with your loved ones to tell them your decision.