When fit and healthy Adam Gray, 33, visited the doctor in July last year with a stomach ache, he never imagined he would be diagnosed with incurable cancer.
The dad-to-be had just tied the knot with his childhood sweetheart Christine, who was also pregnant with their first daughter Amelie, now nine months old.
His perfect life was ‘turned upside down’ in the space of 48 hours as he was given the devastating news that he had just six months to a year left to live.
The family is now raising funds to get specialist treatment in Germany in the hopes of prolonging his life, as well as funding crucial research in search of a cure.
Adam, originally from York, North Yorkshire, said: ‘At the end of 2018 we’d just been on our honeymoon in South Africa – I felt like I was on top of the world.
‘We were about to welcome our first daughter into the world. I just got a new job in London and I felt great.
‘Then it felt like my world just came crashing down out of nowhere.
‘I was a young and fit man, I cycled to work each morning for nine miles and played football each weekend.
‘In the space of two days my entire life was flipped upside down.’
When Adam initially went to the doctor with stomach pain, he was almost sent home. Then tests and an ultrasound revealed that Adam had pancreatic cancer – known as the silent killer due to its lack of observable symptoms – which had spread through his liver, lungs, and lymph nodes.
Adam was told his endocrine tumours had been spreading aggressively throughout his body for at least two years.
Adam, a lawyer currently based in London, said: ‘I remember the doctor told me not to Google pancreatic cancer – and they were right.
‘The first year prospects were not good.
‘On the first day, they said I was completely fine. I even worked from my bed throughout the day.
‘But after the ultrasound the found the tumours. They had spread all over.’
By the time Adam felt anything wrong with his body it was already too late.
Adam spent 10 and a half months on chemotherapy, undergoing 12 cycles, but the tumours didn’t stop growing.
The treatment left Adam in excruciating pain and unable to sleep – but says despite all this, witnessing the birth of his daughter midway through treatment was still the happiest moment of his life.
Adam and his wife and newborn have been shielding since lockdown and keeping spirits up by enjoying each day together.
‘I’ve got my beautiful bundle of joy and I think this has all changed my perspective on life,’ Adam said.
‘I was very work and fitness oriented – but family is my only focus now.
‘They’re my everything.
‘I don’t want to leave them behind. I want to live in the present and cherish every moment with them.’
On Thursday 9 July, Adam will be undertaking the Yorkshire Three Peaks Challenge to raise £5,000 for Royal Free Charity along with his brother, Simon.
Adam said: ‘I desperately want to raise awareness about this cancer because it affects a lot of people and we just don’t have the funding necessary.
‘I was completely healthy and never once thought I could be sick.
‘If we can get additional funding and research we can spot it earlier and save lives.
‘If we can help one person have a better life and save a single life that would be worth it.’
If you’d like to donate towards Adam’s cause and help to fund his treatment, you can do so through JustGiving.
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source https://metro.co.uk/2020/07/08/new-dad-discovers-stomach-ache-was-incurable-cancer-months-wedding-pregnant-wife-12959925/
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