Daniel de Brabander, The Wirral
Daniel shared their story with us in 2020. Sadly Daniel passed away in October 2023. The following article was originally published in October 2020.
I was diagnosed with stage 4 bowel cancer in January 2019, aged 37.
In the lead up to my diagnosis, I remember being very tired, passing blood in my stool, experienced indigestion and I felt very heavy in my bowels. I didn't feel right for around five to six months.
I went to my GP in June and they recommended I have a blood test, however I just thought I had irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) or Crohn's Disease so I didn’t do the test. A few months later I was noticing blood in my stools, I Googled the symptoms and grew very concerned that it could be more serious. I went back to the GP who referred me for a blood test and a stool sample.
In January 2019, I had a colonoscopy and it was here that they discovered I had a tumour in my bowel. I could see the cancerous growth on the screen, he couldn't get the camera past it. I had a feeling something was really wrong then. When he told me I reacted very calm, almost numb and accepting.
Initially I was diagnosed with bowel cancer in my descending colon (left side), which had spread to my liver. The plan was for me to have chemotherapy, a combination of Oxaliplatin and Capecitabine. However after one cycle I ended up with heart spasms from the Capecitabine, which nearly led me to having a major heart attack. Luckily I got to A&E when I did after being advised by my chemotherapy nurse.
After nearly a week in hospital I recovered and I was booked to have surgery on both my bowel and liver in May. Unfortunately a month before the planned surgery, my bowel became blocked and during a routine stent fitting it perforated.
I had emergency surgery and an ileostomy fitted. During the operation I contracted life threatening sepsis and my family were told my major organs were 'shutting down'. I was unlikely to make the evening. Thankfully with the amazing care of the critical care team at my local hospital and I recovered but had to learn to walk once again.
In June after scans I was advised my cancer has spread to my peritoneum, my outlook was now bleak. If chemotherapy wasn't successful I would be looking at months left to live.
Thankfully due to a combination of Raltraixired and Oxaliplatin, my scans were positive with tumours being no longer visible in my peritoneum. This led me being referred to The Christie Hospital in Manchester for surgery and I had 60% of my liver removed in February 2020.
Cytoreductive Surgery (CRS) and Hyperthermic Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy (HIPEC) followed in January 2021 at The Chrisite, and despite being NED or 'No Evident Disease' for around nine months, the cancer returned in my liver, peritoneum and small bowel.
The small bowel proved to be problematic as in December 2021, I ended up in my local hospital with a full blockage. This led me to be transferred back to The Christie and back under my surgeon who had to perform emergency surgery removing around 50cm of small bowel and relocating my stoma higher up. Having been in hospital for around six weeks, I dropped to below 10 stone so the recovery has been slow. Thankfully I resumed chemotherapy (Irinotecan & Cetuximab) and my latest scans have showed miraculous results with 'No Cancer visible' on scans and my CEA levels within normal range. Whilst this is amazing news, I am not getting too ahead of myself and will continue to have treatment before I am scanned again in August.
Since being diagnosed with bowel cancer I now live in the moment more, I'm thankful for every day. I look at a life very differently now and try not to worry about what might happen (as 96% of what you worry about doesn't actually happen!).
I am a firm believer in that we can't always control what happens to us in life, but we can control the way in which we respond, especially to adversity. That said, I have tried to turn my negative situation into a positive by helping others despite my own battles. We have setup a charity #TeamDDB to help support my local community and help other charities including Bowel Cancer UK. To date we have raised over £90,000, done many random acts of kindness, and made real progress in raising vital awareness for bowel cancer. We have received well known support from the likes of Sir Alex Ferguson, Juan Mata, Stephen Graham. Gabby Logan, Kym Marsh and many more. It's truly been the sunshine that follows the rain for me.
Listen to Daniel talk about his bowel cancer diagnosis by watching the video below.
