When British Serdar Ferit first discovered blood in his stool in February 2022, he convinced himself it was nothing serious. But after months of unrelenting symptoms, his concerns grew. In July, he decided to see a doctor who sent him for a colonoscopy in September. But then it was too late. He was diagnosed with stage four colon cancer, informs
The man said he was shocked when doctors told him that the disease has already spread to the liver and is beginning to show signs in the lungs as well. But telling son Jaxon (now 12) was even more painful. “Going through it was the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life. They advised me to tell him in a place where we don’t go regularly, so he wouldn’t have a negative association with him. So we went to a small green square behind the local church,” he recalls.
“I started by saying, ‘You know I’ve been going to the hospital lately, do you know what cancer is?’ He was eight years old at the time and asked: ‘Do you have cancer?’ I replied, ‘Yes, I have one type of cancer’. He immediately burst into tears. He couldn’t calm down and kept asking why is this happening to him when he is only 8 years old?’ He also told me, ‘But you’re going to be fine, aren’t you? Won’t you die? The doctors will help you.’ It’s a really tough situation when you can’t reassure your child that everything will be okay. That was the hardest thing I’ve ever done,” he said.
Today, after three years of grueling treatment, he is fighting to save his life. He belongs to the growing number of people under the age of 50 who have recently been diagnosed with colon cancer. The disease is responsible for around 17,700 deaths a year in Britain and is the second most common cause of cancer death in the UK.
Since more than 2,500 people between the ages of 20 and 49 are diagnosed with this disease every year, experts urge young people to get tested when symptoms appear. They include changes in bowel movements (thinner stools, unusual diarrhea or constipation), more frequent need to go to the toilet, presence of red or black blood in the stool, or rectal bleeding. Other symptoms may be abdominal pain, bloating, lump in the abdomen, unexplained weight loss, tiredness or shortness of breath.
Ferit says he has exhausted all treatment options on the NHS. He underwent more than 30 chemotherapy infusions with targeted drugs, 28 pelvic radiations and several painful ablations (interventions to destroy tissue) on the lungs and liver. His chance of surviving more than five years is only 10%, and the thought of not seeing his son grow up is overwhelming for him, but he does not give up.
He currently has seven small tumors in his lungs, which chemotherapy and targeted therapy are keeping stable. However, in mid-2023, he was warned that the cancer would likely become drug-resistant over time. He is now trying to undergo immunotherapy in Mexico. He hopes this treatment will help his body do what chemotherapy can’t, continue to recognize and destroy cancer cells for a longer period of time.
The proposed treatment plan includes four personalized immunotherapy drugs, including CAR-T therapy and two forms of cancer vaccine. A committed father now raising funds for a 2-year treatment plan in Mexico. He estimates the cost of travel, treatment and insurance at 290,000 pounds (about 345,000 euros).
