Cliff Hammond

Thanks for taking the time to visit my fundraising page. andre11@ntlworld.com Cancer is happening right now, which is why I’m fundraising right now for Cancer Research UK. There’s no time to lose! Donate to Cliffy's page today and help bring forward the day when all cancers are cured. Cliff used to love to use Sunbeds as a young man and used to sunbathe in the burning sun without suntan lotion till he met me! I knew the dangers as my mother had skin Melanoma when I was 15 years old. Luckily she was cured and is still here today. The mole Cliff had on his left cheek decided to start changing. I noticed a little flaking and changes in its colour and size, it was very subtle. After much coaxing he had this removed, it was found to be Melanoma. He went on to have a further operation called a wide excision and removal of a sentinel node, this was back in 2006, no spread of the cancer was detected. All was well, in fact, he was healthy, happy, never took time off work and was resistant to all the coughs and colds that people came down with. He was now working as a Sales Director and enjoying every minute of it. He loved his colleagues and we regard them as our extended family. He felt successful under the careful mentorship of his bosses and had gained the respect and success he had deserved for all his hard work. His motto was "I'm in it to help everyone make money". He often talked about feeling successful, having fun with his colleagues and how it was linked to his confidence and happiness. It took him about a year to spec out his new car that was in the pipeline, there was so much excitement when it arrived and we named it "White Blizzard", again it was a symbol of his success and he was desperate for his Mother and Father to acknowledge this as he left home at the age of 19 and wanted to prove that he could be an independent successful man. He was happy at work, this meant he was happy at home. He put his energy into his work and his family life. Cliff always wanted to provide for his family and make sure his two sons had every opportunity in life that he could possibly provide them with. He would never say no to a family game of Uno, Gin or Quiplash! He loved watching game shows or trying to guess what tune I was attempting to play on my Saxophone. There was lots of laughter and many interesting videos sent via WhatsApp! In early 2017 he developed backache, shoulder pain, a slight cough and extreme tiredness. At times night sweats. The Orthopaedic surgeon operated on him to release a frozen shoulder and suggested he do some light exercise and physiotherapy for his back. He continued to feel tired and felt that maybe his aches and pains were age-related. In fact he was so exhausted at times that he could fall asleep through my terrible Saxophone playing and would claim he had listened to it all and that I was improving. This was true love. In the summer of 2017, he started to feel sick and I struggled to find anything that he was able to eat, this in itself was alarming as Cliff was a real foodie. The Gastroenterologist found a small polyp after an endoscopy and was convinced that it was nothing serious. It was a huge shock to us all to find out that it was in fact cancerous. Further investigations followed and a CT revealed widespread bone cancer. The polyp slide was re-called and tested and it revealed he carried the BRAF Melanoma strain. After 11 years the damage the little mole had done became apparent. He was no longer in the clear, far from it, Cliff now had a battle with widespread bone cancer. He then began a combination of two targetted therapy drugs, dabrafenib and trametinib (nicknamed the Nibs), his pain, night sweats and general malaise had greatly improved by the fourth day of treatment. Cliff had been unwell and in so much pain that he could hardly get out of bed, however, these were like miracle drugs and he felt better within four days. I sometimes nursed him or took him to A&E as these drugs can cause temperature spikes, but as soon as he was over it he was back at work. Unfortunately, these drugs, have a shelf life and the disease will find a new pathway to progress, we fully expected he would have to move onto immunotherapy drugs in about 12-18 months. The treatments he could be offered would only be containment not a cure but as long as he felt well and he could continue to live as pain-free as possible and keep providing for his family, that's all that mattered to him. The Melanoma became extremely aggressive in a very short space of time and the immunotherapy and Radiotherapy had little effect, in fact, they may have even given him severe side effects. We didn't know just how little time he had left on this earth with us at this point. Cliff was always an optimist, cheerful, hard-working (he even worked from his hospital bed) and held meetings in the family room. He was always joking and making everyone laugh so it was hard for people to really accept just how unwell he was. I am extremely sorry for those of you that will find what I'm going to say distressing but I feel it is important and if we could save one person from this terrible disease then a little distress to our readers would be worth it. Cliff had more pain than you could imagine, no amount of morphine could dampen down his pain when he had to be moved. The Melanoma tumour on his spine not only compressed his spinal cord and caused disability but when the tumours shrunk from the targeted therapy it caused spinal collapse and fracture. One little mole caused lung, GI, widespread bone (including spine) and eventually Brain Metastases. Please have your moles checked, do not use sunbeds. Factor 50 all the way with 4/5 UVA stars. My Darling Husband and Father to two young men aged 15 and 21 years old was taken away from us at the tender age of 52. He showed bravery and true resilience to the end. The boys and I have visited him since he fell asleep forever, he looks rested, pain-free and is still smiling. Sending you our Love and warmest wishes Andre, Christopher, Nicholas and Cookie The Cat . Cliff we will never stop missing you XXX