‘I instantly thought the worst’ (Picture: Jam Press)
A man who was diagnosed with stage four cancer aged 22 says the first warning sign was being violently ill after three beers.
Ryan Lloyd, now 26, first had an idea that something was wrong when he woke up in the night after a visit to a Christmas market in 2018 and felt terribly sick.
Ryan, from Birmingham, first thought he’d caught a stomach bug from the glasses, but the next two months saw him lose 2.5 stone and suffer night sweats.
Tests revealed his white blood cell count was high.
After Ryan, who works as a procurement and transport professional, started experiencing ‘excruciating’ back pain, a PET scan and biopsies finally found that cancer was the cause
He was diagnosed with stage four Hodgkin lymphoma, which is a type of blood cancer, around Easter 2019, and was told the devastating news that it was in his bone marrow, hips, spine, neck and spleen.
‘I instantly thought the worst,’ Ryan said.
‘But I was happy in a way because I finally knew why I felt so ill – there was actually a reason.
‘I had not reacted like that [to beer] before so now I have been through everything, it all makes sense’ (Picture: Jam Press/Ryan Lloyd)
‘Knowing the first sign came from an innocent few drinks was really strange. I had not reacted like that [to beer] before so now I have been through everything, it all makes sense.
Ryan went through six months of chemotherapy starting in June 2019 on the Teenage Cancer Trust (TCT) unit at Queen Elizabeth hospital in Birmingham.
His girlfriend Jess, who he’d met at university in 2015, and his parents took it in turns to keep him company during that time, and he was given the all-clear in January 2020.
Unfortunately, check-ups in 2021 found irregularities in his red blood cell count, and after more biopsies, Ryan was given the crushing news that his cancer was back – this time in his neck and spleen.
Ryan has been given the all clear twice now (Picture: Jam Press/Ryan Lloyd)
Due to Covid restrictions, Ryan wasn’t allowed to have company on the ward as he went through chemo.
In July of that year, Ryan was given the all-clear again, and, armed with his health, he had a very important mission in mind – to propose to Jess.
He said: ‘Jess was so supportive through my first lot of treatment, and I started thinking about proposing to her.
‘I thought if we can beat this, we can go through anything together.
‘It gave me something to look forward to on the bad days’ (Picture: Jam Press/Ryan Lloyd)
‘We have seen each other at our worst and being there for each other through that process has certainly made us stronger.
‘When I was in hospital recovering from my stem cell transplant, I had lots of time to think about it. I started planning where and when I would propose and thinking about rings.
‘It gave me something to look forward to on the bad days when I thought my treatment would never end.’
It was on a trip to Wales in August 2021 that his plans came to fruition and he popped the question. Now, the couple are planning a summer wedding.
Ryan said: ‘It’s nice to have this to focus on and it seems like the perfect closure from one part of my life and the wedding will begin a new chapter in my life with Jess.
‘Cancer made me who I am and now I’m going to move forward.’
Ryan credits the support of charity TCT as being hugely important to his cancer journey, and is grateful to nurse Jenny and youth support coordinator Cathy for their company and support.
He said: ‘The Teenage Cancer Trust staff got to know Jess and I really well. This helped both of us as I felt comfortable around them and I had new people to chat to when I was in, but it also meant Jess knew I was in safe hands when she couldn’t be there, and she worried less.
‘I got to know them almost like friends instead of hospital staff and we had a good chat and laugh whenever I was in.’
He’s now backing TCT’s new partnership with fundraising platform Omaze, which is giving someone the chance to win a three-storey, four-bedroom luxury villa in Marbella worth £2,000,000 and £250,000 in cash.
Ryan said: ‘I’m delighted Teenage Cancer Trust has teamed up with Omaze again. The partnership is a fantastic way to raise not only money, but also awareness, so the charity can continue to help young people with cancer just as they helped me.
‘The house in Marbella looks incredible and whoever wins it will be super lucky. But for everyone else who doesn’t win the grand prize, they have at least contributed to helping a really worthy cause.’
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‘Cancer made me who I am and now I’m going to move forward.’
