Daniel Adsett

PATIENT STORIES - DANIEL ADSETT

I was originally diagnosed with Stage III melanoma (BRAF) on February the 16th 2022 with lymph nodes in my right groin and pelvis affected. What lead to this diagnosis was a bad reaction to the Covid booster shot. It felt like I had been punched in my groin and could then feel that my lymph nodes were swollen. At this point in time the outlook was very positive, surgery first and then immunotherapy to clear my body of the cancer. Surgery was on the 28/03/2022 and this is when things started to unravel.

After a few complications post surgery I had a skin check in the research clinic at the PA hospital to try and find the primary source. There was no evidence of a primary source when the high resolution imagery was completed, but a small lump around my left collar bone was of concern to the Professor there. A PET scan a few days later revealed that the cancer had spread at a rapid rate. The diagnosis was now Stage IV on the 27th of April 2022.

I started Immunotherapy at the beginning of May and things didn't quite go as planned. My body rejected the therapy and was making me very ill, to the point that I lost 30 kilograms in 3 months. I deteriorated so rapidly that I was sleeping six hours through the day and all night, I couldn't get out of bed, off the toilet or shower without assistance and palliative care was requested on the 17th of June 2022 and I started Targeted Therapy on the same day. A miracle happened and I managed to be able to celebrate my eldest daughter's 6th birthday on the 21st of June, merely four days after there appeared to be no coming back. The second miracle is that the cancer never spread to my brain, which is hard to comprehend when you look at how widespread it was in the June PET scan.

Since then, my last three scans have shown zero active tumours and a great reduction/removal of the tumours from most of my organs. There is a long way to go, but signs are positive and I am very blessed to spend another Christmas with my wife Lou and three daughters Kadence, Ada and Naomi.

Daniel Adsett