Now I know my pain has not been in vain
DIARY OF AN HPV PATIENT
PAUL YOUNGER, 53, an NHS executive from Kent, was diagnosed with throat cancer caused by HPV earlier this year. Two months after his chemo and radiotherapy ended, he still suffers life-changing side effects – but yesterday he responded with joy to The Mail on Sunday’s victory.
MAY 23, 2018
I saw my GP and it was evident that she didn’t really know what to prescribe for my pain, saying that I must ride it out. She told me to try a Butec [a powerful opioid painkiller] patch. Mum cooked me a chicken pie, which was painful to eat, but at least my taste is coming back.
MAY 29
I’m still tormented by a dry mouth, which makes me gag. I feel like I’ve got a fur ball stuck in my throat. There is pain around the site of the tumour, which causes me anguish too. I will have to take another laxative as the bowels have packed up again, no doubt due to the Butec patch, which has had no effect.
JUNE 4
I have always been a caring person, but at the moment I’m so tied up in my thoughts.
Will I ever work again? Will I travel again? Will I see [ my children] Katie and Ben get mar- ried? Will I ever be a grandad? I still feel that my life is over and I won’t experience any of these joys. It’s a long, lonely day and I spend time watching antiques programmes on TV until Helen [my partner] comes home.
It doesn’t get any easier eating. The worst sore is at the back of my throat, just where food and drink slip down. It’s been there for more than six weeks. I try to tell myself it’s not another tumour, but the result of trauma over the past few months.
JUNE 11
Today it’s my birthday and Helen has taken a day off. She suggests a trip to the cinema but I’m still worried about sitting through a film in a public place. It just seems too early. We have an evening meal of cod with bread-
crumbs which I struggle with – the texture aggravates the soreness in my throat. I have to drink three pints of water to get through it.
JUNE 13
This morning I spend 15 minutes trying to remove the dead brown skin that has formed on the top of my throat overnight. The dryness causes me to heave over the toilet. After heaving I spit out blood secretions.
Straight after dinner, my tongue starts stinging and it actually feels twisted due to the ulcers underneath. Every mouthful continues to be a challenge.
JUNE 16
Wonderful news. David Rose from The Mail on Sunday rings to say the Government is going to fund HPV vaccination for boys. The newspaper’s campaign, and the lawsuit launched by the Throat Cancer Foundation, have forced them to admit the old policy was ‘vaccine apartheid’. My pain has not been in vain. I feel elated that by writing my diary I have played a part in securing the health of our boys in the future. If I do succumb to this disease, I will depart happy that I played my part making the vaccine available to parents of all children. The sun is shining, I’m in a country lodge convalescing, the World Cup has started. My discomfort continues, but I’m going to fight to get my life back.