Two months ago, Rick Illes was still struggling with ongoing hip pain after slipping on the running board while getting into his vehicle in August last year.<\/p>\n
The 59-year-old had seen a number of doctors, and was on medication and cortisone injections in a bid to fix it, but nothing worked.<\/p>\n
Finally, he was sent for an MRI to find out why the pain wasn\u2019t improving.<\/p>\n
The scan revealed a lump. A biopsy confirmed it was a cancerous adenocarcinoma tumour growing on his left hip.<\/p>\n
Initially, Rick was told he had a life expectancy of 18 months. But two weeks ago, the news became more grim \u2013 doctors said three to 12 months was more realistic.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll of a sudden, it\u2019s life-changing,\u201d the Rolleston resident said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere’s been quite a few tears, and in your head you’re going, \u2018well, why me?\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cI’ve never smoked, I\u2019ve never taken drugs, I\u2019ve lived a reasonably clean life.<\/p>\n
\u201cI obviously had a few drinks every now and again, but I\u2019m like, \u2018how did this happen to me?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
His wife Lou was with him for the diagnosis.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou both look at each other and you just see your whole life go, just like that,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd these people sitting in front of you are just to the point \u2013 they\u2019re clinical, they gave a box of tissues and said \u2018we’ll leave you to it, take a minute to process what we\u2019ve just told you.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we were both just in shock.\u201d<\/p>\n
When the MRI first showed a lump, doctors thought it might be a giant cell tumour, a benign bone tumour typically found in joints.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were thinking, \u2018great, once this is confirmed, they\u2019ll just open it up, cut it out, close it up, business as usual\u2019,\u201d Rick said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt wasn\u2019t until they did the biopsy (about two weeks later), and came back about a week after that and said it\u2019s cancerous.\u201d<\/p>\n
The cancer in Rick\u2019s hip was secondary. The primary tumour was later revealed to be throat cancer in his oesophagus.<\/p>\n
He had noticed swelling in his neck in the past, but doctors had brushed it off as a thyroid issue.<\/p>\n
\u201cI said, \u2018look, it\u2019s sore to push, it\u2019s sore if I yawn\u2019, but it sort of got fobbed off as more thyroid stuff and other bits and pieces.\u201d<\/p>\n
A year ago, his GP referred him for a CT scan on his neck, which was declined by Health New Zealand due to high demand for the service.<\/p>\n
Rick believes an earlier scan could have revealed the cancer sooner.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re obviously busy, whatever it is, but for me, that\u2019s not really an excuse,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf it had been cottoned on to earlier, it would have raised a whole lot more around maybe the hip and the throat.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know how it exactly works, but maybe rather than it now being at stage four, maybe it was at stage three, I don\u2019t know.<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe there were options for it to be cured then, rather than 12 months later.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lou said there were other signs something more serious was going on than just a sore hip and a swollen throat.<\/p>\n
\u201cOver the space of this 12-18 months, he\u2019s lost like 20kg, and not one doctor has investigated that other than asking if it was \u2018intentional\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n
Said Rick: \u201cThe hip was the one that was causing me grief. It\u2019s one of those ironic things, because the hip is secondary cancer, whereas the oesophagus is the main cancer, but I hadn\u2019t had a sore throat, I hadn\u2019t had anything other than (swelling).\u201d<\/p>\n
Four weeks ago, when a stent was put in his throat to allow him to eat, Rick was told by the surgeon he had just 18 months to live.<\/p>\n
But two weeks later, his oncologist gave him a new estimate \u2013 three to 12 months.<\/p>\n
\u201cProbably one of the worst things is that when you go along to see the doctors, you’re waiting for just a little glimmer of something to go, \u2018oh, that’s good\u2019,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen he says \u2018three to 12 months\u2019. What do you mean? That\u2019s the hardest thing to take in.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat hit hard,\u201d said Lou.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause suddenly you\u2019ve lost six, eight, 10 months of what you\u2019ve been told.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe just kept getting slammed with something every time we went to the doctor, so we started dreading these visits because you think, \u2018well, what are we going to be told now?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Rick is unable to continue his job in recruitment, while Lou now works from home in land registration. Their sons, Liam, 25, and Tyler, 22, live with them and do what they can to help.<\/p>\n
\u201cTelling the boys was the hardest part,\u201d said Lou.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour friends is one thing, but telling your boys or your family is very different in the way that they respond.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe just sort of sat and watched their faces, and you could see, we had just had our world ripped out from under us \u2013 and we\u2019ve just done the same to them.\u201d<\/p>\n
The family is selling their house and downsizing, and also selling their caravan to adjust to a single income.<\/p>\n
Christmas plans to go camping in Twizel with their extended family have been shelved.<\/p>\n
Rick is currently undergoing radiotherapy and trying other ways to slow the cancer\u2019s spread \u2013 taking vitamin C pills and other supplements while also cutting sugars and carbohydrates from his diet, which some cancers can feed on. He said the cost of that is around $700.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s quite tough to gather that together, but our friends so far have been great and I\u2019ve got a big family, so they\u2019ve been good.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe idea is to beat it, obviously. The doctors don\u2019t get to play God in this case.\u201d<\/p>\n
The family has a long association with the Rolleston Rugby Club. Liam and Tyler played for the division 2 side this year. Rick has played golden oldies and coached his sons\u2019 junior teams, while Lou has helped out on club days.<\/p>\n