A mum is in a race to raise £60,000 to buy her husband more time with their young sons after what first appeared to be heartburn turned out to be stage four cancer. Samantha Thomson, 38, says her husband Dave, 40, was initially treated for acid reflux after suffering severe chest and back pain.
He was struggling to eat, suffering night sweats and lost two stone in just three months before doctors discovered a 6cm tumour in his oesophagus. The family was dealt another devastating blow last month when scans showed the cancer had spread to his lungs, liver and lymph nodes.
Prognosis of six to 12 months
Dave has now been given a prognosis of six to 12 months. His wife Samantha is desperately trying to raise £60,000 to help fund further treatment and give him more precious time with their two young boys, George, five, and James, almost two.
“When he was diagnosed, Dave kept apologising to me, saying he was so sorry,” said Samantha, from Glasgow and now living in Liverpool. “I told him he has absolutely nothing to apologise for. The biggest thought in both our minds were the boys and how it would affect them.
“George’s dad is his best friend and James is so little that he might not have any memories of his dad when he's older. I felt like we had the fight of our life on our hands and that Dave would beat the odds no matter what it took.”
Funds for 'extra time' and treatment options
Samantha said the funds would give the family the priceless gift of “extra time” and allow them to explore treatment options that are not “typical” on the NHS. She said: “When it's your own family, there's no cost that would outweigh the benefit of extra time with them to make memories or explore further treatment options.
“It would just take so much pressure off of us, to know that we have the money there to support his treatment that will extend his time with us. It will buy him more time to make memories with his family and keep exploring treatment options which may not be typical NHS protocol.”
Dave had always been fit and healthy but had suffered from heartburn for years. In November 2024, he began experiencing severe pain around his chest and back. Samantha said: “He couldn’t really sleep because of it, had a lot of hot baths to try and relax it and was taking over-the-counter painkillers and heat packs but nothing really helped.
“At my sister’s wedding, Dave was gulping down Gaviscon. It progressively got worse and he visited his GP again. They gave him blood tests, FIT tests and nothing came back unusual so we didn’t worry at the time.
“It only kept getting worse to the point where Dave really started to struggle with certain foods. Eventually, the doctor referred him for an urgent endoscopy but assured Dave that he believed it was just a stomach ulcer.”
Diagnosis and treatment
During the endoscopy in November, doctors discovered a 6cm tumour. Further tests initially suggested Dave had stage three oesophageal adenocarcinoma, with the disease having spread to local lymph nodes.
During a laparoscopy, in which a camera is inserted into the abdomen, surgeons discovered multiple visible lesions on his liver and were told that surgery wasn’t an option. The family was told an SR1 form would be completed and that Macmillan would contact them about financial advice.
Samantha later looked up the form herself and realised it related to people believed to have a life expectancy of less than 12 months. She said: “My stomach dropped and I didn’t know how to tell Dave. The nurse didn’t have the best delivery and Dave had already left feeling like he had weeks left and there was no point fighting it.”
But Samantha refused to let the diagnosis extinguish their hope. She joined Facebook groups for people with oesophageal cancer and found stories of patients living much longer than initially expected.
By the end of January, Dave, who is 6ft 4in, had lost 3st 7lb and was struggling so badly to eat that he needed a feeding tube. Samantha recalled the awful moment the disease became “too hard to hide” and they had to tell their oldest son, George.
“We told George in the January just before Dave started treatment”, she said. “It was too hard to hide from him as Dave had lost so much weight, was really tired and in pain and also couldn’t eat with us anymore.
Dave began six rounds of CAPOX chemotherapy alongside nivolumab immunotherapy. The treatment initially appeared to be working, with scans showing that the tumours had significantly shrunk. She said the family started believing Dave could be one of the rare stage four patients who went on to live for years or even become eligible for surgery.
Samantha said: “Everyone kept telling us to ignore google statistics; everyone is different and it's all about how you respond to treatment. There were even stories of people with stage four getting to the point where they were then offered surgery and had survived well past the five-year point.
“Obviously these are the exception, not the rule but given Dave's age and initially responding so well, we were hopeful he would be one of the exceptions.”
Cancer progression and fundraising
In September, the family received the news they had desperately hoped they would never hear. Dave's latest scan showed the cancer had progressed. Samantha said: “He asked straight away how long he had and she said without treatment, it would be a quick decline.
“With treatment, six months and if he responds well, then maybe 12 months. This time, it felt much more definitive.
“You can tell by the doctor's demeanour that we’re not in a good spot. My mind went blank when I heard it; it's like a numbness that only someone who's been in the same situation would understand. It really feels like someone has knocked the wind out of you.”
Now Samantha is determined to fundraise to help her husband pursue further treatment and give him more time with their children.
Samantha said: “He’s a fantastic dad. Dave loves playing with them; he loves being out in the garden with them and watering the plants, which inevitably turns into a water fight.
“He takes them out to the park a lot but George is Dave's shadow and no matter where he's going, George wants to be with daddy. We appreciate the small things that we may have taken for granted before.
“Dave's my best friend and being able to laugh with him as much as we do is what’s gotten us through some of the toughest moments.”
But the reality of Dave potentially missing his children's lives has become increasingly painful. Samantha said: “We started talking about the milestones that he’ll miss; he just wants to see his boys grow up. He wants to be there for James's first day at school, their first day at high school, the first time they go to a pub and have a pint, learning to drive, getting married and having their own kids.
“All of it is playing in Dave's head and he is heartbroken that he won't be there for them. We are just trying to appreciate all the small moments. The hardest part is the helplessness.
“I would take it from him in a heartbeat if I could but I can't. I try to take as much of that worry from him as I can but it's hard. What can you ever really do to make someone feel better after such devastating news.
“To be told that you’ll be taken away and won't see your living children grow up is just beyond cruel. Being a dad means everything to him.”
