“I JUST want to be healthy again so that I can follow my dreams and live my life to the fullest,” are the words of cancer patient Barry Deysel (24).
Barry, a former learner from Hoërskool Dinamika, was diagnosed with stage two Hodgkin’s lymphoma on September 18, 2015. At first everything looked good for the Deysel family, until his cancer went from stage two to stage four in just three months.
According to the American Cancer Society, Hodgkin’s lymphoma is a cancer that starts in white blood cells called lymphocytes. Lymphocytes are part of the immune system.
Cancer starts when cells in the body begin to grow out of control.
The cancer is curable, but Barry does not have medical aid or any funds for further treatment.
“One of his doctors said that if you put all the types of cancer onto one table, this is the one you choose because it is curable,” said Barry’s father, Cliff.
It all started early in 2015 when his tonsils swelled up. Thinking it was an infection, he went to his GP for a check-up and he prescribed antibiotics.
Three months passed until the swelling went down. But then he found that there was a big lump on the right side of his neck.
Barry didn’t think much of it until the lump got bigger, and that’s when he decided to go for a second opinion. The second doctor did a biopsy on his neck to remove and test the lump. The results came back confirming stage two Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
Barry underwent chemotherapy multiple times at the Charlotte Maxeke Hospital. There were times he thought he had won the battle. But the results of February 20, 2017, on the PET scanner showed that he now has a refractory disease and it has spread to his bone marrow.
“The doctor said that I won’t be getting the stem cell transplant and no more chemo. The stem cell transplant won’t work because my disease is too progressed and more chemo can give me a secondary cancer. At this stage, they don’t know why my cancer isn’t cured yet, so I had to go for a liver biopsy to test for secondary infection. They were also worried about internal bleeding, so I had to go for a G-scope, but luckily this came back negative. We are currently still waiting for the results on the liver biopsy,” said Barry. But there is hope for the family.
Their doctor told them about treatment called ibrutinib, an oral chemotherapy that is available from the USA. He said that this is the only chemo that will be able to treat and hopefully cure Barry’s cancer.
“We are in the process of registering a fund to raise money for the ibrutinib chemotherapy, as the government does not pay for this treatment. The cost of the ibrutinib is about $130 000 (R1.6 million) per year. If we manage to get the funds together I will take the ibrutinib until my disease is cured. This cancer will not get the best of me. I will beat it,” said Barry.
Read: Four-year-old cancer survivor shows what courage is
Although he has the C-disease, Barry told the RECORD that he is positive about it and will fight to the end.
“I got engaged this year to the love of my life, Tanya Smit, and I do want to be on our wedding day, travel the world, have children together and grow old together. I want my life back, where I can go out of the house not worrying about infections or anything,” he added.
Barry said he cannot afford to be negative as he has a wonderful support team. “Tanya, her parents, my sister Cindy and my parents are there every step of the way.”
His parents, Cliff and Linda, said their son is in a lot of pain and that they just need some guidance on who to contact or what to do to raise funds. “This is our boy and we want to do everything in our power to help him,” said Linda.
His sister, Cindy, created a Barry Fight for Cancer page on two websites, Go Fund Me and Go Get Funding, to help raise funds. People who want to help Barry can donate money on either of those pages by clicking on and following links on the pages, or by contacting Cliff on 083 444 6060.
Donate money here:
https://www.gofundme.com/BarrysFightAgainstCancer
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