WHEN Tony Stevens began suffering weight loss and night sweats doctors diagnosed him with a sexually transmitted disease.

It wasn’t until many months later the dad of seven was told he actually had a very rare cancer called nodular lymphocyte-predominant Hodgkin lymphoma and only had five years to live.

In the meantime he and his partner Trisha had split up because of his supposed infidelity.

Former Speedy Hire driver Tony, of Queens Drive, Royal Wootton Bassett, said: “I felt alone I didn’t know where to turn.”

“She obviously thought I was up to something. They told me I had an STD, it has been a tough long road.”

The couple reunited when he was finally given the right diagnosis in May last year.

“Since then things have spun round. My partner understood when I got my diagnosis.”

A month after he was given the bad news he went into the Great Western Hospital to have some of the nodes in his groin removed.

An infection followed and fluid built up, Tony was rushed in for an operation and told he had lymphoedema.

He then had to undergo radiotherapy at the Churchill Hospital in Oxford.

Now he’s on end of life care and has to have a scan every three months to keep an eye on his condition.

But he and Trish are hoping to make the most of what time he has left and they’ve launched a £4,000 fundraising appeal on Gofundme to buy a specialised pneumatic pump to ease the swelling in his legs and stimulate the flow of lymph.

He explained: “I’m at a high risk of getting more infections so they’re keeping an eye on that. And I’m under palliative care now.

“I’m on benefit because I can’t work and my partner looks after me. It has just been a struggle dealing with it all and dealing with every day life. So I’m raising money to get a pump so I can move around more and help around the house.”

It will make a huge difference to his life because he relies on using compression socks and wraps to help the circulation at the moment.

If any more money is raised he is planning on taking his seven children on holiday because they’ve struggled in the wake of his diagnosis.

“It’s been very tough we have been stuck inside not able to go out with the kids. I would love to just take them away to get away from it all. They’re constantly surrounded by the situation,” he said.

To donate visit gofundme.com/f/lymphedema-pump-and-compression-garments.