Fundraiser for Wylie Dixon to help with costs for aggresive cancer treatment

A Tablelands man who was given three months to live, has overcome the odds to fight an aggressive cancer diagnosis, but his battle is far from over.

Wylie Dixon was diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer and travelled to Sydney for urgent surgery. He has been unable to work since and requires ongoing chemotherapy treatment. His family are fund-raising on Mr Dixon's behalf to help offset the cost of his continuing medical treatment. Picture: Brendan Radke

A Tablelands man given just three months to live has overcome the odds to fight an aggressive cancer diagnosis, but his battle is far from over.

Yungaburra man Wylie Dixon had been struggling with fatigue for several months, before an urgent visit to the emergency departmentat Atherton Hospital revealed devastating news.

Wylie Dixon, pictured with his wife Ked Dixon, was diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer and travelled to Sydney for urgent surgery. He has been unable to work since and requires ongoing chemotherapy treatment. His family are fund-raising on Mr Dixon’s behalf to help offset the cost of his continuing medical treatment. Picture: Brendan Radke

“Basically I had acute abdominal pain and was throwing up,” Mr Dixon said.

“Since it was pretty late at night, I took myself to (the) emergency (department) and after a little while felt OK, so I leftvoluntarily, but unfortunately about two hours later I took myself back because I felt worse again.”

Mr Dixon said scans revealed a blockage around his appendix, later confirmed to be an uncommon and aggressive form of cancer.

“They came in, I was on my own at that stage, and they said it was 99 per cent (probability of) cancer and it looked likeit’s spread elsewhere as well, so I got transferred to Cairns Hospital and waited for surgery for a few days,” he said.

Mr Dixon said he wasn’t initially worried as he didn’t need emergency surgery, however, he was admitted to hospital for fourdays in preparation.

“They thought that after the surgery, I’d be good to go, which is what I was under the impression of for about four days,because it wasn’t an emergency surgery,” he said.

Wylie Dixon was diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer on his appendix, travelling to Sydney for urgent surgery. His family are fund-raising on Mr Dixon's behalf to help offset the cost of his continuing medical treatment. Picture: Brendan Radke

“But the next morning, the surgeon came in and said it’s a lot worse than what was shown on the scans.”

Mr Dixon was told there was nothing more medical staff could do and was given a life expectancy of three months.

“I was told chemo would slow it down, but not stop it, so I went searching for answers, which landed me at a specialist inSydney hospital, who I went to of my own accord,” he said.

Mr Dixon and his wife moved from the Far North to Sydney for four months so he could undergo and recover from a 19-hour hyperthermicintraperitoneal chemotherapy surgery to remove tumours from his body.

“Because it’s not in and out surgery, I was in Sydney for four months recovering and came back (home) after that,” he said. “My wife went down with me, but we had to leave our jobs, sell the house, all the nitty gritty stuff.”

A GoFundMe page has been set up by his family to help Mr Dixon offset medical and travel expenses as he continues chemotherapy treatment.

“(Recovery) is just a watch and wait type thing,” Mr Dixon said

“Unfortunately this cancer is aggressive and does return pretty easily.”

You can donate to the fundraiser here.

Originally published as Fundraiser for Wylie Dixon to help with costs for aggresive cancer treatment