Appeal for young family as father has leukaemia
WHEN Matthew Davies went to his GP complaining of mouth ulcers, little did he realise he would be undergoing chemotherapy for blood cancer just days later.
The father of two, described as “the rock of the family”, was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) last month and has been in hospital since.
His wife, Sarah, who was given the news the day before their fifth wedding anniversary, now fears bringing up their two children, Tommy, 4, and Nancy, 2, alone.
“My heart aches for what my husband has to go through, not just the chemotherapy, all the side-effects, the mental and physical strain – but the fact he’s been away from our children for five weeks,” she said.
“It was such a shock and I never expected this to come from a simple trip to the GP. He’s been my best friend for the past eight and a half years, and although I want him home I want him to beat this so we can make more special memories, go on even more adventures and grow old together.”
Engineer Matthew, from Buckley, Flintshire, said he had been experiencing mouth ulcers on and off for several months and decided to go to the GP when he started feeling under the weather. He initially thought he might be anaemic.
The 34-year-old said: “I’ve always suffered from ulcers when I was run down or stressed, but it was different this time as the ulcers wouldn’t go away.
“I had constant mouth sores for five weeks and I was feeling really tired and short-tempered so I finally went to the doctors for a blood test.
“When I was diagnosed I was numb and actually went back to work in the afternoon. It only felt real when I had my first bag of chemotherapy.”
Matthew has had the first of four stages of chemotherapy and has already lost more than a stone in weight as a result.
He is set to leave Manchester’s Christie NHS Foundation Hospital soon, but will need to return for more treatment.
Wife Sarah, who has type 1 diabetes, said their two children miss him terribly.
“He is so strong and taking every day at a time, but I know he is struggling not being able to see the children,” Sarah said.
“Our four-year-old son is coping amazingly and has taken it upon himself to be the ‘man of the house’ while Daddy is getting better in hospital.
Our two-year-old daughter thinks Daddy’s at the doctors but doesn’t understand and asks after him a lot,” she said.
A GoFundMe page has been set up for Matt and his family to help them through this difficult time. Visit gofundme.com/teamdavies