From priesthood to cancer patient – Sebastian’s story

“It’s funny to say it, but the year I got diagnosed with cancer was also the best year of my life.”

Only in his early-thirties, Sebastian’s diagnosis came after experiencing chest pain following an overseas trip, “Getting diagnosed with cancer was a surprise to me as I wasn’t experiencing anything untoward.”

Thinking that he may have been experiencing the after effects of COVID-19, Sebastian booked a telehealth appointment which led to surgery finding a rare 5cm x 9cm mediastinal mixed-germ cell tumour.

When being told he needed chemotherapy, Sebastian was hesitant, “The thing is, I’m not concerned about death. Coming from my religious life, I’ve always contemplated my own death. I was more concerned with being rendered infertile, of the chemo affecting my kidneys in the long-run, or in some other way crippled.”

After speaking with his then girlfriend, now wife, Sebastian decided to go through with chemotherapy, “I had four cycles of chemotherapy. It was quite an intense schedule because there were no breaks between cycles – I had to keep punching through.”

A year on, Sebastian has regular scans and “so far, so good”. His fertility has not returned to pre-treatment levels but the potential for children does still exist, “It’s ironic because I was training to be a celibate priest but quit that, thinking I wanted to start a family. Then within 12 months, I found myself having chemo.”

“As unexpected and, frankly, unwanted, as this whole experience has been, it has served as a reminder to daily renew my appreciation of the virtue of hope. Not ‘optimism’ – the saying is that an optimist is someone who lacks information! – but hope that, despite the way things currently appear, all will eventually work out for the best. “