A dad diagnosed with an incurable cancer is working hard to pay for treatment despite his terminal diagnosis.
Matthew Webb was told he had just weeks to live after it was discovered he had incurable stage four cancer in August following a routine x-ray for a chest infection.
The cancer had spread to the 28-year-old's lymph nodes but its source remains unconfirmed, Devon Live reported.
Matthew's hopes of survival were improved after he was selected for private tests carried out by Roche Pharmaceuticals after the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital was allocated 30 slots.
If they are able to locate the source of the cancer, the Axminster, Devon dad may be able to take drugs that can aggressively target it.
As it is unclear whether such drugs would be funded by the NHS, his family have started a fundraiser in a bid to pay for the treatment.
Despite having had a terminal diagnosis, he is continuing to work to make sure he has enough money for the drugs.
Matthew, who lives with fiancée Kerstin and two-and-a-half-year-old son Jesse, said: “It’s a bit weird as I feel like I’m wasting my time at work, but at the same time I’m kind of living until they can give me life expectancy on paper.
“If it’s short obviously I won’t come back to work, but it’s also the money side as well so I can’t stop.
“Up until last week I have felt all right but now I just feel tired. When I get up in the morning it’s like I have been hit by a bus. I actually like my job so it’s an easy one to want to go to work.
“The only way they can say what my life expectancy could be is once I have received a block of treatment and I have a scan to see what’s happened to the growth.
“I have been told how little time it could be with someone with what I have. I’m hoping it’s not that.
“Although the doctor couldn’t say how long I would live, he did say it could be anywhere from two months, and that was six weeks ago. As it has spread so far, treatment will more than likely only slow it down. The words he used were ‘keep you alive for as long as possible’.”
Matthew was feeling fit and healthy until he went to Download Festival in June and felt ‘wiped out’ by what he thought was a bad cold.
It became clear it was something more sinister however when the dad began coughing up blood.
A doctor sent Matthew for an x-ray and subsequently two CT scans, which led to a tuberculosis diagnosis and then the first mention of cancer.
Matthew recalled: “As soon as I heard the word 'cancer' it freaked me out bit. It was looking like lymphoma which is treatable with a good success rate so I thought okay, it’s not the worse one to have.
“Then they did more tests and said it looked like bowel cancer which is a lot worse so I had to accept that news again.
“Further tests showed I didn’t have it my bowels. My last consultation was on August 16 and I was told it was looking like an extremely rare cancer and was not treatable.”
Not only is the incurable stage 4b metastatic adenocarcinoma cancer suspected of the thymus Matthew was diagnosed with rare, it is almost unheard of for someone his age.
Matthew said: “The test looks at the genes in your body and tests the genes for mutations – cancer growing is a mutation of a cell – and looks at that mutation and matches you up with a drug to kill it.
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