I’ve had cancer twice – but I was very lucky they both could be treated when caught early
Keen sportsman Richard Seddon arrived for our interview in Leeds on one of the hottest days of the year looking a picture of health despite having cycled 12 miles from his Yeadon home.
As temperatures hit 33 degrees C, Richard laughed off the heat, as I beat a hasty retreat into the air-conditioned café.
Richard, 57, a member of the West Yorkshire & Harrogate Cancer Alliance Community Panel, has survived and been given the all clear for two different forms of cancer – Prostate Cancer in 2018 and more recently Throat Cancer in 2021. His throat cancer was caused by the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) which we all carry and which teenagers (boys and girls) are now being vaccinated against, so hopefully it will ultimately be eradicated in the UK.
He is determined to raise awareness by encouraging people, particularly men, to speak up about changes in the body as soon as you notice anything different.
On results day in June when he told his followers on Twitter, that he was cancer free, this time for his throat cancer, his tweet went viral attracting 40,000 likes and his story was then picked up and shared in the Mirror Online alongside an article about Bowel Babe, Dame Deborah James.
“I’ve been very lucky twice over, as both times the cancer I’ve had has been curable when caught early,” he told me. “Age and relatively good overall health have also been on my side”.
The fantastic result he was given was that he has a ‘complete metabolic response’, which at this stage, means he is cancer free, although he will face regular ongoing follow ups for the next five years.
Richard had been all too aware of cancer after losing his mum to ovarian cancer when she was just 52, and his dad died as a result of prostate cancer aged 72.
Back in 2015 before Richard had cancer himself, he had cycled from Liverpool to Leeds in memory of his mum and dad and raised £1,500 for Cancer Research UK and Prostate Cancer UK.
Prostate cancer diagnosis
Armed with some knowledge and being aware of his own body, Richard was alert to the tell-tale signs that something wasn’t right – blood in his semen. (See information on prostate cancer symptoms below)
In November 2018, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer and had a Radical Robotic Prostatectomy in June 2019, as he was told it was slow growing. The procedure involved biopsies and then removing the whole prostate and checking there had been no spread of cancer cells.
After being cured of prostate cancer and to try and help others, he took part in a genetic testing trial in 2020 at the Royal Marsden in Surrey, a national genetic cancer research centre.
“The result was that I was told I had a predisposition for prostate cancer but my older brother, who also underwent the same testing, was not,” Richard said.
Looking back, Richard concluded he had wonderful treatment but felt he was discharged after surgery too quickly. He also didn’t get the all-clear for twelve weeks rather than the four weeks it should have taken. This led him to join the WY& H Community Patient Panel so he could try and change information, systems, help re-write prostate cancer pathways locally and nationally and to make it easier for patients understand what happens and when, if they are unlucky enough to get prostate cancer in the future.
Throat cancer ( Oropharyngeal) diagnosis
After his successful prostate cancer treatment, he returned to cycling/sport but several years later he noticed he didn’t feel on the top of his game and he was told by professionals it was probably down to him getting older. He adds that he was only 56!
In October 2021, he found a lump on the right side of his throat. He described the lump to his GP over the phone and was prescribed two separate courses of antibiotics, which did nothing to reduce the swelling and it was at this stage that he suspected it might be something more sinister.
When his GP examined him, he was referred to the Ear, Nose and Throat department at Leeds General Infirmary, who, after examinations and biopsies, confirmed the lump was throat cancer (Squamous cell carcinoma) which they confirmed was caused by the HPV virus.
He was then offered two options:
- Surgery plus radiotherapy and perhaps chemotherapy
- Radiotherapy and chemotherapy
When he asked which was best and which the experts would recommend, he was told both options had similar outcomes but that he had to make the decision himself.
“I spent the next two weeks agonising over my decision. I stayed calm, but you know it’s a tough call to make especially at a time of such turmoil (again)” Richard remembered he spoke to a fellow patient from Yorkshire Cancer Community and a friend of a friend who had had a similar diagnosis 18 months previously after which he eventually went for option 2. radiotherapy and chemotherapy. This involved 35 fractions, one daily targeted dose of radiotherapy for 35 days as well as two chemotherapy treatments on days 1 and 17 (of 35).
“Other than the odd occasion, the schedule was very manageable. I had the weekends off and to my surprise, radiotherapy treatments only lasted 5 minutes so I was in and out quickly and didn’t feel anything.
“The Bexley Wing staff were also fantastic. We have one car and I needed to get my wife to work, so they adjusted all the sessions and all other varied appointments to suit me. I feel they were all fantastic, flexible and very patient led, a real blueprint for what the NHS should be,” added Richard.
After effects of treatment
While Richard had no initial unpleasant side effects during treatment such as ulcers, sore throat or burnt skin, he did lose his sense of taste just before Christmas, which is hopefully just beginning to return.
“No matter what I was eating or drinking, everything started to taste like gulping seawater. It was so unpleasant I stopped eating and drinking completely and lost three stone (20% of my body weight) in total which is now fantastic for self-esteem, confidence and general wellbeing. People can’t believe how well I look, and I also feel great and have bought a whole new wardrobe and have sent all my old clothes to various cancer charities. You’ve got to be positive, and I always try to look on the bright side”.
In early January and with very little food and drink in him for nearly two weeks, Richard admitted to staff that he felt awful and exhausted. They were totally on the ball and Richard was quickly hooked up to a drip and had a nasal tube (NG) to feed him. Within 24hrs he was feeling much better and for the next four months it was kept in place to ensure he had the right amount of nutrients on which to survive.
Four months after the end of treatment, Richard underwent a second full body PET/CT scan which revealed there was no evidence of cancer in his throat. In fact, there was no sign of any Cancer in any other part of his body, which not many people get to know!
In that four-month period and for the foreseeable future he also has a number of other manageable but well documented side effects, such as dry mouth (always has a bottle of water with him), lymphoedema, anaemia (aching body), brain fog, constipation, burning throat, fatigue, loss of taste etc. many of which it is hoped will come back to normal over time. He was also told that his new ‘norm’ should be established after the first two years post treatment in 2024.
On results day, Richard and his wife went for a symbolic celebratory drink even though his beer didn’t really taste nice and still doesn’t, and this is when he sent out a tweet to his handful of followers sharing his fantastic news. To his amazement, it went viral.
Said Richard: “I just want to get men talking about their bodies as we all know our own bodies best and men are known for not talking. Two old friends got in touch after seeing the story in the Mirror, and perhaps as a result, they may raise their concerns with their GP, who will either put their minds to rest or point them in the right direction. If I can help or prevent just one person going through what I’ve been through twice, then that’s brilliant. If I can get that message to hundreds or even thousands, then even better. That’s my aim!”