When 24-year-old Ashley Terry walked into A&E having suffered loss of sensation down his left side he was shocked to be told he had a tennis ball-sized tumour on his brain and had just six months to live without treatment.
Still in his early twenties and an aura of invincibility that comes with youth, Ashley - from Buckley in Flintshire - was forced to slow life down and undergo immediate treatment. He'd noticed some strange symptoms in the preceding months but had managed to "talk them away", he said.
Now aged 26 and having successfully completed months of radiotherapy and chemotherapy, Ashley has found a new perspective on life after experiencing a period of depression when doctors told him some symptoms would stay with him. Key to finding that enthusiasm for life was through his work with Helen Murray from the 5k Your Way, Move Against Cancer initiative. That and the support of his family and fiancé Hannah, who he married in August this year.
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"In 2020 when we were first going into lockdown that was when everything started taking shape," Ashley said. "With working from home I didn't realise how bad the symptoms were. They started off as little things and then they got worse. Because of the time it was it was almost impossible to speak to a doctor."
He added: "I brushed off most of the things I was noticing and didn't think much of it. During the following months, these changes in my balance, eyesight, hearing, speech, and energy levels started to become more intrusive and by July time when I started to return to work I knew something must be wrong as I was struggling to drive to work as my double vision was so bad."
Ashley initially "downplayed" his symptoms and insisted nothing was wrong when friends or family commented. "It got to the point where I would stumble or fall and expect a little sympathy but people would jokingly refuse and claim there was nothing wrong and I was just clumsy," he said. Looking back two years later, Ashley realises how "ignorance was bliss".
But after losing movement in his left side one day he reluctantly agreed to let Hannah take him to A&E in August. After a long eight-hour wait, a doctor took him straight to have an MRI and that was when they found a mass on his brain.
"Being a typical young male I said we'd go in the morning," said Ashley. "It was a rollercoaster that went from 0-100 really fast. I was expecting to come out with a prescription but doctors said it was a miracle that I walked into A&E that night." The neurologist told Ashley that without treatment, he would have just six to 12 months to live. "It was really caught at a good time," Ashley added. "The tumour was growing so rapidly and taking over."
Ashley had been working a stressful job as a hire controller managing a national account worth £2m. "I had the Friday off when I went into A&E," he said. "It was the end of month accounts so I was getting everything done on Thursday night. I've never been back since."
The first three days after his diagnosis were spent at Ashley's local hospital receiving intensive care "without really knowing what was going on", said Ashley. He then moved into a specialist hospital with more experience of brain tumours. "There I met an amazing group of people who were able to give me all the information I was desperately looking for and we discussed my options," Ashley explained. He had a biopsy taken and immediately embarked on six weeks of radiotherapy which was then followed by 12 months of chemotherapy.
Ashley has now finished treatment and the tumour is stable although he has to have check ups for the rest of his life every three to six months. Some symptoms might never go away.
"During treatment I wasn't active at all and if I wasn't in a wheelchair, at the very least I had to use a walking stick to get around," he said. "Just walking from the car to the hospital I needed help with and it really impacted my mental health. Halfway through the treatment, I spoke to my doctor to ask when I could expect to start improving and when I would regain balance and control." To Ashley's surprise, he was told things might never return to how they used to be. "Safe to say this wasn't the news I wanted and for months I battled with depression at the thought of never being able to live my life how I wanted and having little to no independence," he continued.
"However I eventually came to grips with the fact I was lucky to still be here and many people are far worse off than I am so it wasn't fair to be frustrated with my situation and the best thing to do was to simply try to take some steps to improve my mental and physical health." Focusing on small steps and what he could do rather than what he couldn't do, Ashley started to push himself. They were only small things such as going for a five minute walk down the road or going up and down the stairs twice instead of once. But those "baby steps" led to big improvements.
"Towards the end of my chemo, I worked up to the point where I was able to go for a 20 minute walk every day, I wasn't getting out of breath going up and down the stairs and I was able to help out with things around the house again," he said. "Probably doesn't sound all that impressive but for me this was huge progress that took months to achieve."
Ashley had been working with cancer charity CLIC Sargent and it was on a group trip away to Devon in June last year that he proposed to Hannah. It was also through that charity that he was put in touch with Helen and her work to provide rehabilitation for cancer survivors. Working together, Helen gave Ashley tailored exercises he could work on to regain his strength, eventually building up to taking part in a parkrun event one weekend.
"It changed my attitude to fitness a lot," Ashley said. "I owe so much to Helen and how she helped me turn around my attitude."
Helen works for 5K Your Way, Move Against Cancer , a national initiative which combines a cancer support group with a local parkrun. There are currently more than 70 5KYour Way groups across the UK and Ireland with Welsh groups in Prestatyn, Llanerchaeron (Aberaeron) and Termorfa (Cardiff). Two new groups in Erddig (Wrexham) and Llanelli are launching in October.
"I see the mental and physical benefits of exercise for people with cancer all the time and I believe it’s actually a very empowering part of treatment that isn’t always spoken about," Helen said. "5K Your Way is unique and there’s nothing like this in and around Wrexham, so I’m thrilled that we can bring a life-changing and very powerful initiative to support patients, families and healthcare professionals in the area."
For Ashley, who now takes time to "cherish the little things in life" and has found a different job, it's been a revelation. "I don't worry about what might happen in six or 12 months time," he said. "I just enjoy where we are now." Since his treatment ended, Ashley married Hannah who he started dating when he was in sixth form. The couple tied the knot on August 28, the second anniversary of Ashley's diagnosis.
"That first year it was such a gloomy day, I was just reminiscing where I had been a year ago," Ashley said about the date. "Getting married on the same date means from now on it will be a good day to remember, not a horrible one."
"I really didn't appreciate all I had before," Ashley added. "But now I cherish the little things like being able to stay home and watch the TV with Hannah and the dogs. Those little things are so important."
Anyone interested in joining the Erddig group are encouraged to register with 5k Your Way and parkrun via the following link: https://5kyourway.org/register before meeting at 8.45am near the Main House in Erddig on Saturday, October 29 and then the last Saturday of every month from then on. For further information visit the Erddig 5K Your Way Facebook Page . To find a location near you visit: www.5kyourway.org
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