Support can come from unexpected places when you’re diagnosed with cancer.
For Tyler, it is the heavy metal music community that has turned out to have a heart of gold.
“One of the things that has got me through all this is that I love music, and the type of music in particular is heavy metal,” Tyler said.
“The support I have had from the local heavy metal community has been astonishing.
Tyler after a metal concert
“I would like to thank the likes of bands such as Temtris, Black Majesty, Wicked Smile, Silent Knight, guitarists Stu McGill, Clint Bidie, Hanny Mohamed and lead singer Danny Cecati.
“A huge thankyou to Steve Micallef whose door was always open whilst I was traveling back and forth for my treatment.”
Tyler said lots of people “came out of nowhere” to offer help, and he was grateful to his parents and extended family.
Tyler’s cancer story started almost by accident, when he had been getting what he believed to be shingles almost every year.
When he was diagnosed with cancer, he was unable to get into a GP so presented to the emergency department, knowing he only had a certain timeframe to treat shingles before it would get worse.
The emergency department doctor listened to his story, then suggested he have his immunoglobulin tested.
Blood tests came back with elevated markers, and results were sent to St Vincent’s Hospital in Melbourne.
“Then I received that fateful call,” Tyler said.
.jpg)
Tyler and his daughter
As both his parents had survived cancer diagnoses, Tyler said he wasn’t particularly surprised to learn he had cancer too – but the type of cancer came as a surprise.
“I was diagnosed with high-risk smoldering myeloma – a rare blood cancer – at the age of 47,” he said.
Tyler explained smoldering myeloma came with a poor prognosis. Within two years, most patients progress to active myeloma or don’t survive.
“I was engaged with a palliative care doctor, which was also rather daunting,” he said.
Tyler’s first steps were to quickly sort out his finances and fertility preservation, not knowing whether he would be accepted on a treatment trial or how fast his disease would progress.
Tyler joined the ITHACA International trial through St Vincent’s Hospital in Melbourne, and was part of the control group of 300 patients worldwide.
His treatment involved three weeks of active treatment with lenalidomide and high-dose dexamethasone, with a week off between each cycle, for two years.
Tyler and his cat
During treatment, Tyler said he felt exhausted, lacked energy and sometimes felt very unwell, as well as being sensitive to sudden changes in temperature.
“I just felt that I needed to grin and bear it, continue on and grind the situation out,” he said.
Tyler’s trial treatment finished earlier this year, and he’s now having follow-up appointments every three months for the next four years.
Despite a terminal diagnosis, Tyler is looking to the future.
“We made the decision as the timing is right to follow through on IVF, and my wife is pregnant,” he shared.
Tyler and his two dogs
“I have a new job in a completely different line of work. I have returned to finish off my studies in forensics. I have faced every challenge known possible and it has only made me stronger.”