Oakley faces up to cancer battle after shock diagnosis
A FORMER Welsh rugby international has opened up about his battle with cancer after going into hospital for a routine ankle operation.
Rhys Oakley, capped twice by Wales in two World Cup warm-up games in 2003, had just finished playing for Hartpury College in the Greene King IPA Championship when he went in for “clear-out” surgery.
The 37-year-old back-rower started experiencing chest pains and breathlessness and he underwent further tests as surgery was deemed too risky.
A large lump was found on his chest and after further tests, last Friday Oakley was diagnosed as suffering from metastatic testicular cancer, where it spreads to other parts of the body.
Despite still coming to terms with the devastating news Oakley, who also carries out coaching duties at the renowned rugby college, has opened up about the battle he now faces.
He told the Gloucester Citizen: “When that operation was due I had a bit of a chest pain and thought really nothing of it.
“I did go to the doctor but they couldn’t really work out what was wrong.
“I went in for the operation and they refused to put me under anaesthetic, which is fair enough considering I had chest pains and didn’t know what it was.
“They sent me to see a cardiologist to find out what was wrong and make sure there was nothing wrong with my heart to make sure that if I did go under anaesthetic, I was going to wake up.
“I went for a CT scan with the cardiologist and they found a large mass lump in my chest cavity behind my breast plate, slightly pushing against my heart which is what was making it hard to breathe.
“They initially thought it could be a lymphoma or some kind of cancerous mass but weren’t sure so they needed to do a biopsy and blood tests.
“I had those things done and it came back on Friday that it’s a form of testicular cancer that has not grown in my testicles but has grown in my chest.”
Oakley will go for an MRI scan and have an ultrasound on his testicles before starting chemotherapy, which could be as soon as next week.
He said: “They’ve told me that I have to do a few more tests to make sure it’s not anywhere else and is solely in my chest.
“Once that’s all done I suppose they’ll start me on a course of intensive therapy, chemotherapy, drugs to try and shift it as soon as possible with the thought that if they don’t completely reduce it with chemotherapy then it may be surgically removed.”
Oakley, whose rugby career also took in spells with Bristol, Northampton Saints, Bourgoin, Yorkshire Carnegie and Plymouth Albion joined Hartpury in 2015 and was a key player when they were promoted to the Championship with 30 straight wins in the 2016-17 National One season.
In all he played 51 games for the Dragons over three seasons leaving in the summer of 2006.
That year he also appeared for Wales in the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne when they won the Sevens rugby plate competition playing alongside the likes of James Hook.