Two years ago, at just 34 years old, Lewis started noticing mild symptoms on his face and skin. He called his GP for advice and kept monitoring his symptoms, which worsened over time.
As months passed by, Lewis' symptoms were getting worse, his muscles were feeling tighter and weaker, and he was feeling a lot more fatigued.
After visiting a chiropractor and consulting his GP again, Lewis had a blood test at his local hospital. The results were alarming—he had nearly four times the normal amount of cortisol in his body. Lister Hospital eventually discovered an extremely large cancerous tumor on his adrenal gland.
Lewis was referred to another hospital trust where it was revealed it had spread to his liver and they found a lung nodule. Growing all the time, the tumour was now pressing against one of his kidneys.
After some time, Lewis was heartbreakingly told the surgery couldn't go ahead and he was now terminal.
After processing this news, Lewis was referred to King's and met with Consultant Surgeon Mr Srinivasan, where Lewis was told: "I've got you, don't worry."
The surgery lasted for around seven hours, with Lewis waking up on the ICU Ward. It went as well as possible, with the whole tumour on the adrenal gland being removed. As the tumour had joined to a kidney, sadly one was removed.
Now Lewis was left with cancer on his lungs and liver, and for seven months he had chemotherapy at Guy's Hospital.
Up next for Lewis was the liver surgery, which was close to a year on from his first major surgery. The surgery was to cut off two tumours on the right hand side of his liver.
During this surgery, Lewis also underwent Selective Internal Radiation Therapy (SIRT) to remove nodules near the main artery in his liver which were hard to reach.
After a successful surgery, however, a nodule came back on the outside wall of his windpipe which required some more surgery to remove the right upper lobe of the lung, which again was a success.
Currently, Lewis is undergoing more SIRT radiotherapy to address the remaining tumours in his liver.
We at King's College Hospital Charity wish Lewis all the very best in his recovery.
Lewis received support from Cancer Lads, a support group for men with cancer.
