He was young, fit and healthy, so cancer was the last thing on his mind. But when Daniel Hettmann began experiencing some strange symptoms, he knew something must be very wrong.
His doctor, however, seemed unconcerned, blamed inflammation and even teased him for Googling what was wrong with him. “I had a lump in my neck,” Daniel said. “After a while of observing it, it turned into a chain of lumps, which freaked me out. I went to the doctor, who ordered a couple of exams, but told me I wouldn’t have to worry.”
Further exams didn’t reveal what was behind the lumps so Daniel, who was living in Paris at the time, went to A&E. The hospital sent him to the haematology department, who immediately picked up on his symptoms and diagnosed him with stage two Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a type of blood cancer.
It was 2008 and Daniel was just 22. The diagnosis left him totally floored – but he could have no idea of what was to come.
“I had a first round of chemotherapy that lasted for four months and the result was I was in remission,” Daniel explains. “But after two months, I found a new lump on the other side of my neck and already had a relapse after not even two months. I was mentally and physically still quite in a weak place.”
The doctor didn’t have the best bedside manner and told Daniel matter-of-factly that he’d have to leave his job in fashion, start intensive chemotherapy and have a stem cell transplant. The thought of more aggressive treatment left him deeply despondent and for a while he ignored calls and letters from the hospital, exploring alternative methods such as naturopathy, magnetism, Ayurveda and even starvation.
Eventually, one of his Ayurvedic doctors recommended he go back to the hospital. “The doctor said: ‘I know that you’ve learned a lot in the past year and a half by trying to explore alternative healing’,” Daniel recalls.
“‘How do you feel about going back to the hospital, using what innovation and medical science has to provide, and at the same time strengthen your body by using all the alternative methods that you’ve learned about?’ So that’s what I did.”
Daniel went back to the hospital and luckily the spread of cancer was minimal. The tumour had grown to the size of an apple, but it was still localised. A year and a half of different chemotherapies and radiotherapies followed.
“At the end of that year and a half, the doctor said that we could continue like that, but I would probably not make it until 30 because my body would not be able to take much more treatment,” Daniel explains.
“She said if I’m ready, she would really strongly recommend intensive chemotherapy and a stem cell transplant. So that’s what I did in 2012 and it was successful.”
In 2017, Daniel moved to London and it was at this point he discovered a new lump. More chemotherapy and a second stem cell transplant followed. Both of the stem cell transplant were autologous, which means his own stem cells were used.
By 2018 he was able to resume a more normal life. But then in 2023 he became constantly sick. Blood results showed that his immune system was a lot weaker than it should be and unable to defend Daniel from any bacterial or viral infections. In January 2024, doctors decided to dig a little deeper.
“In February, they sat me down and basically said, ‘Listen, chemotherapy can be great in healing cancer, but unfortunately too much of it can also lead to other types of cancers,’” Daniel adds. “They announced that I had MDS, which is a type of cancer in your bone marrow.
“It means that the toxicity of the past treatments have altered the makeup of my bone marrow and my bone marrow was basically broken. So my bone marrow was no longer able to produce healthy cells, to have a healthy immune system and so forth.”
The only way to cure MDS is a stem cell transplant or bone marrow transplant, but this time from a donor. Doctors told Daniel he didn’t need to start treatment urgently and that he could continue to work through September and October, the busiest months for him in terms of Fashion Week.
But in October, he had another biopsy and found out that the condition had already progressed to leukaemia. Daniel was immediately hospitalised. First he had chemo to get rid of the leukaemia and then, in November, he had another intensive chemo to deplete the bone marrow.
In December, he had the stem cell transplant using stem cells from a donor, and thankfully, the procedure went well. But in all this time, Daniel had been grappling with the terrible side effects of chemotherapy.
Chemo left him feeling incredibly depleted: nauseous, exhausted and weak, with no energy or appetite. One of his friends has parents who are medical researchers, specialising in pain.
“They kept telling my friends that I should think about using cannabis because it would help me with the side effects of chemotherapy,” Daniel explains. “I was very, very anti-drugs back then, so I vehemently refused to do anything. But the side effects were pretty bad: I had a lot of nausea, I lost my appetite and I couldn’t really sleep.”
Daniel’s friends managed to convince him to try cannabis for medicinal purposes and he was blown away by the difference he felt. Suddenly his nausea disappeared without taking medication to prevent it. He was also able to sleep, and his appetite improved. It also helped Daniel cope with the mental health effects of so much treatment and helped him to disconnect from the realities of cancer.
“Before the medical cannabis, I felt like a truck had run me over,” he explains. “I felt sick, I wanted to throw up, but couldn’t because I hadn’t eaten anything. I was exhausted but couldn’t sleep.”
Medical cannabis was available in the UK, so Daniel could access it easily through Wellford Medical Clinics. He has appointments with a doctor to discuss symptoms and treatment and gets the cannabis posted to his house.
Despite its legal status, access through the health service remains at a standstill even for the three conditions the NHS says it will consider prescribing for – epilepsy, multiple sclerosis and the side effects of chemotherapy.
“I usually bake with the medical cannabis because I prefer to ingest it,” Daniel explains. I don’t really like to use a vaporiser or smoke it.
“It has been invaluable in helping me cope with the side effects. I know what it is like to not use it and how you feel, so I can really clearly see the difference, and always recommend it to others. Often people are reluctant, but once they actually try, they see what a huge difference it actually makes when you go through cancer treatment.”
Daniel, now 39, wants others to be open-minded to the benefits of medical cannabis.
“I actually find it scandalous that it’s not widely publicly known to everybody that this is available,” he adds. “This is prescribed by professionals, not something you have to buy in the streets not knowing where it comes from.
“I’ve seen it for myself: I’ve done it without, and I’ve done it with, and the difference is huge. I don’t understand why people need to suffer unnecessarily with nausea, lack of sleep, lack of appetite and just feeling terrible, when there’s actually a solution that is natural and that doesn’t really have any side effects, like a lot of the meds do have.
“I think also with cannabis, there’s a huge stigma. A lot of people still see it as a gateway drug. I still haven’t tried any other drugs in my whole life, even though I’m in the fashion industry, so I think I can vouch for it not being a gateway drug, because I’ve always stuck to it. I’m not addicted to it. I only use it when I really feel the need to.”
Daniel is now recovering from his stem cell transplant in December and goes to the hospital every two to three weeks to get blood work done. His energy levels are slowly increasing and he feels positive about the future.
“I’m somebody who always tries to find a reason in everything, maybe just because it makes things easier for me, so I always say that I’m grateful for my journey with all the ups and downs,” he adds. “My perspective on life is definitely a different one than what it would be if I hadn’t gone through all of that.
“It’s not been easy but so far I’ve had a very rich, amazing, eventful life and I don’t regret any of it. There’s nothing I can do about it and I always try to make the best out of it, try to stay as positive as I can and move on with it and make sure I get better.
“When it comes to cancer, I would tell people that the mind is a huge component in getting better. It’s easier said than done to keep positive, but it is true that the mind is crucial in getting better, so it’s also important to surround yourself with the right people and to try to create a positive environment while you’re going through something that’s definitely not positive.”
Daniel wants to encourage others to always seek help if they notice any strange symptoms and to push for further opinions if they’re not satisfied with their initial appointment.
“Science is improving, and the earlier we catch cancer, the easier it is to treat,” he adds. “The longer you wait, the harder it is for the doctors to do something.
“I would definitely recommend that everybody should get checked on a regular basis. At the end of the day, if you have cancer, the longer you wait, it’s just going to get worse.”
