Last week it seemed as if terminally-ill Stephen Sutton was just hours away from death when he posted a heartbreaking farewell on Facebook.
But yesterday the 19-year-old, whose story has captured the hearts of the nation, posted on his Facebook page that he was feeling much better after apparently coughing up a tumour on Saturday night.
In a post on his Facebook page Stephen’s Story, he revealed breathing had become very difficult due to the collapse of his right lung - but that then something amazing happened.
This whole week has been pretty unbelievable and I can barely fully get my head round everything that has gone on, but yesterday there was perhaps the most bizarre but fortunate twist in the tale yet.
From around mid afternoon yesterday I developed a slight cough which slowly got worse as the day went on. From mid evening yesterday I developed a slight 'wheeze' in my breathing again which gradually got worse. After some visitors I had round in the evening left I tried sitting up in a chair, but straight away started asking the nurse to increase my oxygen levels as I was getting extremely short of breath. I then returned to my bed where I stabilised slightly for a while, but my breathing was still not right.
After a lying there for a bit longer the coughing increased and then suddenly the shortness of breath became incredibly severe. Amongst frantic hand pointing and panicking I felt like I was like suffocating. Then I forced out an oval red stained solid object through my mouth. My breathing and airway straight away felt clearer, but I spent the next hour violently coughing and choking, but then eventually my breathing once again stabilised.
Since then, my breathing has dramatically improved. I'm really stuck for the words of how to describe it. Throughout the night my throat was pretty sore but my 02 and other saturation levels are great. This morning I am relying on NO external oxygen to breath at all and I'm feeling bloody fantastic!!
The doctors have discussed what's happened and the only plausible conclusion is that I've literally coughed up a tumour (probably along with bits of infection etc) that was blocking my airway. I have had an X-ray this morning which seems to show my right lung has inflated slightly, suggesting the substance I coughed up was also a significant pressure that was causing a restriction on the collapsed lung. Physiologically a tumour breaking away like this is possible, but it all just seems incredibly surreal- mind, I'm not complaining!
My lungs are still pretty messy with other tumours, clots and potential infections/inflammations/etc affecting my overall condition but, for now at least, I am in a good stable state. I have no immediate problems and in fact feel better than I did when I first came into hospital last Sunday! The general oncologist and team I've been seeing will discuss the events with my professor in the morning and we will see where we go from there.. It's still a case of taking each day as it comes, but at the moment the days just keep on coming!!
We are SO happy to hear this - if anyone deserves a miracle, it's Stephen.
The teenager, who vowed to raise £1 million for the Teenage Cancer Trust, smashed his target in under 24 hours. And now he's raised £2,954,425.42 - with the total still rising.
Visit his Just Giving page to find out more.