A dad who developed cancer after stubbing his toe has been told his life-saving treatment is being stopped due to coronavirus.
Roland Monger, 39, was walking to work in the snow in 2009 when he slipped and broke his ankle leaving his foot in a plaster cast with his toe exposed.
He then stubbed the protruding toe on a step causing the digit to turn bloody and black,.
But it wasn’t until seven years later doctors gave him the news that he had aggressive cancer that had been caused by the seemingly innocuous injury.
He was given just one year to live but Roland defied the odds and has been battling on with treatment.
But now his life is jeopardy again after he was told it was being stopped as a result of the ongoing pandemic.
Roland, a university admission manager from Torpoint, Cornwall, has also been told that the tumour in his pancreas has grown despite his treatment.
He now needs either chemotherapy or clinical trials, but both options are no longer available to him.
Because of this, Roland, who lives with partner Gemma Turner, has been told he may have just months left to live.
He said: “On a really personal note if I don’t get access to the treatment then the suggestion is I only have a few months to live and I’ve got a young family and a wife, we only got married last year.
“It’s my fortieth in July so I’m trying to aim for that one as well and hopefully seeing the kids go back to school in September perhaps.
“But it’s just a case of trying to stay positive and trying to keep things moving in the right direction.
“Physically I feel pretty good, it’s not a problem to you know, go out into the garden.
“We’ve been in the garden, we’ve been doing things in the house, we’ve tried to make the most of what we’ve got.
“We’ve painted rainbows and done the blue hearts for the NHS and we go out every Thursday and clap for the NHS.”
Since his diagnosis in 2016, Roland has been writing about his experiences with cancer in a bog – called New Normal.
His most recent posts discuss his current situation, and the treatments that are available to him.
He wrote: “The alternative is to opt for a chemotherapy route which works better for those that have already had immunotherapy but it’s a nasty treatment that isn’t great for quality of life.”
Back when he was diagnosed, doctors found a grapefruit-size tumour in his right groin – and traced the cause back to the seemingly innocuous accident involving his toe.
It was diagnosed as a form of skin cancer known as malignant metastatic melanoma.
It is caused where melanoma cells spread through the lymph nodes to distant sites in the body and/or to the body’s organs.
Although it had spread to the groin, it was still classed as skin cancer.
Doctors told him that while 80 per cent of skin cancers are caused by sun exposure the other 20 per cent come from traumas, like hitting a limb really hard.
Fortunately, the cancer was spotted just in time and Roland started to recover.
He had radiotherapy and went back to work, but still needed regular checks.
Speaking at the time of his diagnosis, Roland added: “It was a pretty horrible feeling. I was shell-shocked.
“It’s a bit of a mystery. I was living in London and I was making my way to work in the snow and I slipped and broke my ankle.
“My foot was in a cast but my toe was exposed and I slammed it into a step.
“It was black and bloody and was giving me a few problems so I got it checked out.
“Although a lot has happened since, stubbing my toe was the trigger point for my cancer.
“Stubbing my toe happened in January 2009 whilst working and living in London but my cancer was discovered in March 2016.
“The cause was traced back through medical records and a biopsy.”
Roland said the trauma of the 2009 injury damaged the skin and the cancer developed within it and lay dormant inside his body for many years.
He explained: “My immune system was then compromised in 2015 due to an operation on my gall bladder which allowed the cancer to spread.
“It was caught when it developed into a tumour in my right groin.”
Tests and scans detected the grapefruit-size tumour in his Roland’s groin area.
Doctors told him it was so aggressive he might only have a year to live.
He added: “We did a few tests and there was no mole.
“But I was told that while 80 per cent of skin cancer cases come from sun exposure, another 20 per cent comes from traumas, like hitting a limb really hard.
“That causes the cancer to spread.”
Luckily the lymphatic system in his body had prevented the cancer from spreading towards his vital organs and the tumour was successfully removed.
“I’ve got a 10-inch scar up my leg and in my groin area,” he said.
“I needed to have drains through my leg full of lymph nodes which drew the infection from the skin.
“Then my 20 sessions of radiotherapy began – up to the hospital for 10 minutes every morning.”