Young man fighting for life through tough incurable cancer battle

A young Wantirna man was given dreadful news — he has stage 4 cancer and at most three years to live. But he’s confident he can beat the disease with help from the community.

Joe Wang was given a heartbreaking prognosis by doctors when he was diagnosed with incurable stage four cancer, but that isn’t stopping the 36-year-old from staying in the fight.

Mr Wang was confused when doctors at Northern Hospital rushed him to have scans and tests just after Christmas last year, resulting in an emergency surgery on his right leg on New Year’s Day.

He found out that the pains and lumps he’d been struggling with were incurable stage four nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

He said he was “shattered” when he heard the news, with doctors giving him a prognosis of only two or three years left to live.

The cancer had come from behind his sinuses, to his lymph nodes in his neck, his ribs, his hips and right leg.

36-year-old Joe Wang was diagnosed with stage four cancer just after New Year’s Day.

“This whole ordeal had left me devastated and broken … initially, I was waking up every morning in denial, telling myself it was just a very bad dream,” he said.

But Mr Wang is now determined to fight his cancer and prove the doctors wrong by living for many more years.

“I made a promise to my family that I'm going to beat this and will do everything that I can, because I just I want to spend more time with them and with my friends as well,” he said.

Mr Wang had only just finished building his first home when he wad diagnosed, which forced him to leave his job as a bank manager to be able to receive treatment.

Now, he’s trying to make expensive mortgage repayments with his disability support payments he receives for being a cancer patient.

“I’m just basically living off my savings and my parents are just trying to help out financially as much as I can,” Mr Wang said.

Despite his prognosis from the doctor’s, Mr Wang is determined to remain positive and do everything he can to fight his cancer.

He’s set up a Go Fund Me campaign to ask the community to provide support in affording his treatment and living expenses.

Mr Wang’s family migrated to Australia from China when he was two years old, with his parents working hard to build a new life.

“They obviously came with pretty much nothing … we stayed in like maybe a commission house for a couple of years,’’ he said.

“We were living in a bit of poverty for a bit, so growing up we didn't really have all the luxuries, but we made do.

“My parents were pretty much worked their arses off … I’m so grateful to have my parents, both of them are retired now so hopefully I'll beat this and be able to help them out.”

He said his family and friends had given him “all the hope in the world” to fight back against his cancer.

“I feel strong because I know there is always hope, I am determined to live much, much longer than what the doctors say,’’ he said.

“I totally understand it is incurable and that I will be fighting this for the rest of my life, but I will fight and fight hard.”

Mr Wang is undergoing treatment at the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Wellness and Research Centre at the Austin Hospital and said he’d responded well to treatment so far.

“I’m full of confidence, especially after the last scan results with the positive signs.”

Donate to the Go Fund Me campaign here.