11 Jan Wickford father given just seven years to live continues to defy the odds 16 years on thanks to a life-saving transplant from his sister
A Wickford father who was given just seven years to live after being diagnosed with incurable blood cancer continues to defy the odds 16 years on thanks to a life-saving transplant from his sister.
Andrew Bate had only just beaten one type of cancer when he was hit with the news he had myeloma, an incurable blood cancer which kills 3,000 each year, back in 2007.
He was 52 years old.
Yet, thanks to transplant from his sister Cathy, Andrew is still fighting the disease 16 years on.
The father-of-five is now looking forward to spending another year surrounded by his 10 grand-children and four great-grandchildren.
“When I wake up in the morning I think ‘Yippee it’s going to be another great day’,” said the 67-year-old. “Family is everything to me. What I put my wife through is just horrendous, but she’s been there with me. She’s seen me go through the pain, and not be able to walk, crawl from the bedroom to the bathroom. It’s absolute torture for your partner and nearest and dearest because there’s nothing they can do.
“But here I am. Most people think, when they hear they have an incurable cancer, that their life is over. I did too. I had that thought for about 30 seconds and look where I am now. I try to give people a bit of hope. Life is not over. Life is for living.”
Andrew was enjoying a long weekend in Rome in December 2005 when he suddenly felt winded and began to struggle to walk. But he powered through, assuming he had just a pulled muscle in his abdomen.
By the time he landed back in the UK though, the pain had spread to his back and neck and was so excruciating he was rushed to hospital by ambulance. There, doctors put his symptoms down to a ruptured muscle.
Far from easing up his pain only worsened and the keen cyclist and swimmer became a shell of his former self, bedridden and reduced to crawling to the bathroom on his hands and knees.
Eventually, after weeks of back and forth to the GP, in February 2006 an X-ray revealed a cancerous tumour, known as a plasmacytoma, had caused his neck to snap.
“I was unable to walk properly and getting out of bed to go to the bathroom took about 15 minutes as turning my body around to slide off the bed onto all fours and crawl the short distance was a monumental task,” he recalled. “The day I was having my first MRI scan to find out what was causing the pain in my back and neck in Brentwood, my daughter was giving birth to one of my granddaughters 10 miles away. I was in the tube and I thought to myself, ‘One being born, one on his way out’. I immediately told myself to get rid of these thoughts, go on and kick this thing.”
He swiftly received radiotherapy but his recovery was only short-lived.
Soon, he started struggling to move his left arm. Tests eventually revealed a tumour pressing on his ribcage had caused his rib to break.
Just 11 months after his initial cancer diagnosis Andrew, then 52, was hit with the devastating news his plasmacytoma had progressed to myeloma. It was incurable.
He had just seven years to live.
“To me it was a double whammy. To hear “cancer”, “incurable” and “seven years to live” in the same sentence was a lot,” he said. “My consultant’s opening comments were, ‘Well Andrew, I’m afraid you’ve got myeloma. It is treatable but incurable and the prognosis is that you probably have seven years or slightly more. That is all you can expect’. This was devastating, but after a few seconds my reply was, ‘Well what are we going to do about it?’.
“We now had to tell our family for a second time that I had cancer and that this time it was incurable. Everyone was so shocked and lost for words, but I was totally focused on ridding my body of myeloma, being strong and never giving in.”
Myeloma occurs in the bone marrow and currently affects over 24,000 people in the UK. While it is incurable, myeloma is treatable in the majority of cases.
Treatment is aimed at controlling the disease, relieving the complications and symptoms it causes, and extending and improving patients’ quality of life.
Despite being the third most common type of blood cancer, it is especially difficult to detect as symptoms, including back pain, easily broken bones, fatigue and recurring infection, are often linked to general ageing or minor conditions.
Patients experience significant delays in getting diagnosed, with 50% waiting over five months. 34% of myeloma patients visit their GP at least three times before getting a diagnosis.
These are some of the longest delays out of any cancer in the UK.
Ready to fight, in 2008 Andrew went on to receive chemotherapy as well as a tandem stem cell transplant; that is, a first stem cell transplant using his own cells followed six months later by a donor transplant from his sister Cathy.
“At the time there was a 25 per cent mortality rate but I said, ‘I’ll take the 75 per cent’,” he added. “Cathy and my wife Pauline sat either side of my bed and we all held hands. The nurse, Raj, had a small bag containing Cathy’s stem cells, the needle was inserted and slowly the cells dripped into me. The feeling that my sister had given me life was, and always will be, so emotional. Pauline, Cathy and I shed tears of emotion.”
“I am extremely fortunate and have so many people to thank for my life – especially Pauline who has been with me every step of the way. I am such a lucky guy – thank you will never be enough.”
2023 feels truly special for Andrew as it not only marks his 16th year still fighting on but coincides with the 25th anniversary of Myeloma UK, a charity close to his heart as it funds vital research toward treatments for patients like him.
Andrew said: “What works for one person won’t work for another because everybody with myeloma is different so that’s why we need every single treatment option possible, and why we need more research and more drugs approved.”
Dr Sophie Castell, Chief Executive at Myeloma UK, said: “Although Andrew received a worrying diagnosis, his story is one of hope. Just 25 years ago, when Myeloma UK was founded, seeing a patient still thriving more than a decade on from their diagnosis would have been unimaginable. That’s why it’s so vital to continue to fund research into new treatments and, ultimately, a cure. 16 years on, Andrew is living life to the full, grateful to see his grandchildren grow up – something he never could have dreamed of when he was first diagnosed. Our dearest wish is to give every patient the same chance to spend many more precious years with their loved ones.”
Andrew hopes his story will bring comfort to fellow patients struggling to get to grips with their diagnosis.
“The fact that I could relapse is always at the back of my mind,” he said. “But there are so many drugs and new treatments now. The advancement and development of these drugs in the past few years is just incredible. Myeloma is not the death sentence it used to be.
“If I relapse, I know I’ll have options. I never thought I’d be saying that when I was first diagnosed.”
For more information about myeloma or to get in touch with Myeloma UK go to www.myeloma.org.uk. Myeloma UK runs an Infoline on 0800 980 3332.
