'I was given antibiotics for a UTI but now my diagnosis is terminal'
Chandler Heatley, 26, went to A&E when he noticed blood in his urine in April and was given antibiotics and drank cranberry juice to treat a UTI
A 26-year-old man's urinary tract infection symptoms turned out to be something much more serious. Chandler Heatley attended A&E after spotting blood in his urine in April and was prescribed antibiotics and advised to drink cranberry juice to treat a UTI.
Within a month, he started experiencing pain in his lower abdomen and found himself needing the toilet constantly. In May, he returned to A&E as pain on his left side was preventing him from sleeping, and a low-contrast CT scan indicated he might have a stone in his bladder.
Chandler was given painkillers and informed he might have kidney stones, which would pass on their own. However, the scan also detected nodules on his left lung, and a high-contrast CT scan revealed a tennis-ball-sized tumour on his prostate gland, which was likely cancerous.
The growth was spreading rapidly, doctors warned, so whilst awaiting his full pathology results and "unable to wait" due to the severity of his condition, Chandler started chemotherapy in June at Freeman Hospital in Newcastle. A biopsy confirmed a week later that Chandler has a prostate sarcoma which has spread, with secondary tumours in his lungs, liver and bones. Doctors have said the cancer is incurable.
Chandler, a customer service adviser from Newcastle, said: "I just can't describe how this feels. I knew something was wrong, but I really wasn't expecting to hear that I had terminal cancer.
"I wish I'd been given a high-contrast CT scan the first time. They would have found it sooner and it would have spread less. I think because of how young I am, the focus was on confirming a UTI or kidney stones diagnosis -rather than an open investigation of my symptoms."
His mum Lisa, 51, noticed Chandler was losing weight rapidly in April. She explained that the combination of the Dicer-1 mutation, which Chandler has, and his age, is exceptionally rare.
Scans revealed countless tumours in Chandler's lungs, with one measuring 8cm. Chandler has now completed his sixth cycle of chemotherapy. Medical staff are weighing up radiotherapy, alternative chemotherapy, or surgery as next steps, he said.
Chandler said: "It's responded to the chemo better than they thought. I'm not dead yet and I'm just going to keep going, maybe they'll find a cure.
"Terminal means conventional treatments aren't expected to work. It doesn't mean it's not possible, medical trials are my best hope.
"I'd love to speak to any consultant who thinks they can help. I'd take part in any clinical trial that could get rid of this tumour. It would be something rather than nothing - even an outside chance."
Single mum Lisa said the family haven't been able to afford holidays and she'd love to take Chandler, who is autistic, to Disneyland so he can make his own lightsaber.
Lisa, who devotes her time to caring for Chandler's brother Harvey, 21, expressed: "This has totally blindsided us. This is another young man being told he's too young to have cancer.
"We need to be more open to the idea that cancer is a possible diagnosis for young people. We are too quick to dismiss the idea, so we're not catching it fast enough.
"His world is just opening up and this is cutting him off before he's even had the chance to explore. We need to empower young people to have the confidence to ask for investigations that they need. Chandler is such a wonderful person."