Student with ultra-rare cancer refuses to let diagnosis stop his 'active' lifestyle
A 27-year-old man with a type of cancer that impacts fewer than one in 100,000 people, has explained why he won't change his lifestyle, despite his prognosis.
Ben Wagenmann, a student currently living in Switzerland, revealed it all began with a chest infection in 2023, which sprung up after a skiing trip.
The German national shortly afterward noticed a lump on the side of his throat in that April, and even though his chest infection improved, the lump remained 'uncomfortable' when touched.
His father, a doctor, recommended antibiotics, but when they didn't work, the issue was referred higher.
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Sadly, months later in November, a 3D ultrasound of his neck would reveal a mass behind a lymph node, and a follow-up MRI confirmed an approximately 6cm tumor in the area.
At 25, he was now diagnosed with cancer, and one that he has since come to terms with, despite it having a minimum of an 11 per cent survival rate if it spreads to nearby lymph nodes.
Cervical paraganglioma is what Ben was diagnosed with, a cancer in his carotid artery that the Cleveland Clinic describes as 'a rare neuroendocrine tumor (NET) that forms near your carotid artery (the major blood vessels in your neck), along nerve pathways in your head and neck and in other parts of your body.'
Symptoms of the cancer type include:
- High blood pressure
- Headaches
- Excessive sweating for no known reason
- A pounding, fast or irregular heartbeat
- Feeling shaky
However, it is usually slow-growing, and if it is only localized and hasn't spread, it can allow patients to live a near-full life expectancy with treatment.
Ben said: “For my parents, it must be awful because I cannot imagine the feeling of knowing that your kid has cancer and potentially dies before you.
“For me – as hard as it sounds – if I die, I die, and I can’t really change that.
“But I’ll have the best time till then,” he added.
For now, Ben said he is trying to keep up an active lifestyle, even with him experiencing 'pain pretty consistently'.
For the last two years he has competed in the Bern Grand Prix each May, which includes a 16km race through the city.
He also has plans to cycle 700km from Copenhagen to Oslo to visit a friend, but he needs to fit the trip in around his appointments.
Ben said: “I want to show the world that you can do all these things even when you’re sick. I really deny cancer (the ability) to take away my day-to-day life.”
According to The Independent, Ben's cancer had spread to his bones, and he had to undergo major therapy which meant he couldn't be active due to fears that it could cause his artery to explode.
Afterwards, treatment included the likes of radionuclide therapy – radioactive drugs, which managed to stop it from spreading.
But it didn't shrink the tumor, and it made him 'radioactive' for some time where he wasn't allowed to be around people or anything he could contaminate.
So, curing the cancer is off the table, and the aim is now to prolong his life – which led the student to accept his fate and life his life to the fullest.
Britt Jones