Father may have months to live as lifesaving cancer treatment halted by coronavirus pandemic

A father of four from Cornwall who was diagnosed with cancer four years ago has been told he may have just months to live.

39-year-old Roland Monger found out a tumour in his pancreas has grown in size - despite undergoing immunotherapy treatment.

Roland says he now has limited options, after he was told the only treatments on offer at his nearest hospital, Derriford, will not work.

The options would normally be chemotherapy or clinical trials.

But, the clinical trial treatments that Roland has been told might work, and could prolong his life, have been put on hold because of the coronavirus pandemic and lockdown measures.

Full hospitals, a decreased number of staff and strict government guidelines have caused many clinical trials to cease, including those in London and Manchester which were originally an option for Roland.

He wrote in a blog post, "The alternative is to opt for a chemotherapy route which works better for those that have already had immunotherapy but it’s a nasty treatment that isn’t great for quality of life."

Not only is there the burden of not getting effective treatment on Roland's shoulders, but also the risk of catching coronavirus.

And, for those living with life-threatening illnesses like cancer, the reality of a virus pandemic is much more frightening.

Cancer treatments like chemotherapy can lower your ability to fight infection, making you more vulnerable to catching Covid-19.

Roland, who has a five-year-old son, Jake and three step-children, Joe, Alfie and Roxie with wife Gemma, is having to take stricter measures when it comes to lockdown and getting treatment.

In one blog post, he describes each time he leaves his house to get Radiotherapy as 'having to run the Corona-gauntlet of trying to not pick up any infection while my immune system is jeopardised by the ongoing and aforementioned lasering.'

The project manager at the University of Plymouth, told ITV News that going to the GP this morning was the first time he has left his house in a month.

Roland Monger spoke to ITV News about living with cancer during the unprecedented times of a pandemic.

You can watch the whole interview with Kylie Pentelow on our youtube below.

Roland who lives in the seaside village Downderry with his children and wife has been writing a blog, which openly discusses living with cancer during the lockdown of the coronavirus pandemic.

His first post in 2016 describes the moment he found out he had incurable cancer.

Since 2016, and throughout a variety of treatments, his humour and wit has been prevalent in his writing and blog posts.

He talks candidly and honestly about terminal cancer and what life is like.

Roland and a friend recently started a podcast, discussing funerals and the practicalities of death, subjects Roland says are not spoken about enough.

One of Roland's blog posts:

You can read Roland's blog here and listen to his podcast here.