In April 2022, my life changed forever. I went from being a successful freelance marketing guy, Army Reservist, and musician, to being a full-time cancer patient.

As some of you reading this may know, I had an incredibly tough battle. I had numerous setbacks with treatment - I had a stoma which leaked at every opportunity, my stage 2 cancer became stage 4 - it all got a bit out of hand.

But, after about 9 months of targeted anti-cancer therapy (TACT) I was able to turn the inoperative to operative, having one of the largest operations someone can go through. I had multiple lesions in my liver removed, half my pancreas, spleen, and two thirds of my large bowel - along with the cancer as well!

With all of the "macro-disease" removed, I went onto a further 3 months of TACT. After which, I had a clear scan. An incredible victory, from what had been a dire picture a year before.

I wish that was the end of the story, but after about 6 months of thinking my life was back on track, I was told the cancer had returned.

To add insult to injury, the amazing targeted drugs that I was able to have before (the ones that saved my life), were taken away from me by the NHS. For reasons which defy logic, medical opinion, and sheer common decency, I am no longer eligible to access that life-saving treatment.

This is the reason why I need your help.

In all this time a decision was being made about the TACT, the cancer has kept on growing.

At the time of writing, the latest scan shows that the main cancer site has tripled in size with increased activity in numerous lymph nodes. There are even signs of disease near one of my lungs.

After this advance, and delay, I need to throw everything and the kitchen sink at this.

There are two options.

The first is being able to add an additional targeted treatment to the chemo. This drug is called Bevacizumab (Bev), and has been shown to work well alongside the intensive chemotherapy I'm already having.

The second option is to try and get the original decision reversed so I can have the Cetuximab and Encorafenib moving forward. This treatment has certainly been far more tolerable than early doses of the chemo. Those drugs have been proven to save my life, and they were very well-tolerated by comparison, enabling me to live as comfortably as possible.

Both drugs are available to me via the Royal Marsden hospital, where I have been receiving NHS care. Unfortunately, due to the way the hospital works, only the Bev can be paid for on its own. With the Cetux/Encorafenib, I would have to fully transfer over to being a private patient, making the cost at least 3x more expensive than the Bev.

My hope is to be able to get funds to supply at least one full course of treatment, which is 3 months. This is my £10,000 goal. The more money we raise, the more cycles and courses I'll be able to have. Each dose can make a huge difference.

Many of my friends and family were able to donate to my "race for life" page, which managed to raise over £8,000 for Cancer Research, funding projects specifically for bowel cancer. With bowel cancer rising exponentially amongst young people, I know that money is doing a huge amount of good. I know it's a big ask, but I'm hoping we can do similarly well again, and directly change the outcome of my cancer battle for the better.

Thank you for reading and I hope to count on your support. Let's beat this thing together.

Charlie x