Window Cleaners Chat Saves His Life

Derek Roberts

Window cleaner's chance chat with customer led to life-saving procedure on 'inoperable' tumour: Derek Roberts was having a conversation while up the ladder at the home of James Arthur when the topic turned to a rare form of cancer Derek had A chance chat with a customer saved a window cleaner’s life.

Derek Roberts was up his ladder at the home of James Arthur when they got talking. The 54-year-old from Boothstown, Salford, had been told by several doctors that a very rare type of cancer growing in his abdomen was inoperable. But while cleaning windows at Mr Arthur’s home in Boothstown he told him of the tumour. Mr Arthur is a consultant surgeon at Aintree University Hospital in Liverpool, and suggested he get a second opinion there. Surgical teams at the hospital specialise in removal of tumours which are very complex to operate on, and they perform about ten operations a year.

Aintree University Hospital, Liverpool.

Derek went for a check up at Aintree and it resulted in a team led by consultant hepatobiliary surgeon, Mr Hassan Malik, successfully removing a 7kg gastrointetinal tumour, which was the size of a football. After a 10-hour operation, the team had successfully removed the tumour, along with parts of Derek’s liver, stomach and spleen.

Derek, who has been cleaning windows for more than 15 years, said: “I’d been told that nothing could be done, so who would have thought a chat while I was cleaning windows would lead to this? “I’ve been cleaning Mr Arthur’s windows for about six years but this was the first time I’ve shared any health concerns with him, and I’m so glad I did. “The whole team at Aintree was excellent and I can’t thank them enough – they have saved my life.”

Derek Roberts with James Arthur, Consultant surgeon (left) and Hassan Malik (right) consultant hepatobiliary surgeon, outside Aintree University Hospital.

Mr Arthur said: “I was around when Derek turned up to clean the windows and we had a bit of a chat, which turned to his health situation. I suggested a second opinion from my clinical colleagues. It’s a complicated condition to operate on but luckily Derek met the criteria.”

Since his operation just over 12 months ago, Derek has held a number of fundraising events, including some at his local pub, the Greyhound in Boothstown, and he recently handed over a cheque for £3,000 to the hospital’s hepatobiliary fund.

Derek Roberts (left) with James Arthur consultant surgeon (right) and Hassan Malik consultant hepatobiliary surgeon (centre).

Mr Malik said: “These are rare tumours, which are complex to manage and challenging to operate on, particularly when they are so advanced. We had to remove the tumour and parts of Derek’s stomach, liver and spleen, but the operation went smoothly.

“Even as one of the country’s leading centres, we still only carry out a very small number of these operations each year. Derek was certainly very fortunate and we wish him all the best with his continued recovery. We are extremely grateful for his fundraising work, which will support the treatment of patients in a similar condition on our wards.”

An x-ray showing Derek Roberts' seven kg tumour.

Double Escape For Window Cleaner & Son

“It all began when Sean found a lump on his chin,” says full-time mum Loretta. “I hadn’t even noticed it. But working as a window cleaner Sean has regular customers and a couple of them had asked him about it.”

Happy families again after two cancer battles: Sutton Coldfield mum Loretta Haughey thought her life was falling apart when both her partner Sean and young son Ryan were diagnosed with cancer just four weeks apart. “It all began when Sean found a lump on his chin,” says full-time mum Loretta.

“I hadn’t even noticed it. But working as a window cleaner Sean has regular customers and a couple of them had asked him about it.” Loretta’s partner Sean Connolly, 46, visited his GP surgery but was told by a locum-doctor that the lump was nothing to be concerned about. However, one of Sean’s customers, a radiographer, told him that she was concerned that the lump was suspicious and pressed him to look into it further.

Just a couple of weeks later Sean and Loretta, 32, were told that the swelling was in fact a symptom of non-Hodkins lymphoma, a cancer of the lymphatic system. The couple, whose son was just 22 months old at the time, were in a state of shock, but were relieved to find that they had caught the cancer early. “Around the time that Sean was having tests at hospital, Ryan had also become poorly,” explains Loretta. “He had a temperature, was pale and had a lump on his tummy. It bothered me.”

Worried, Loretta and Sean, who have been together for 14 years, then took toddler Ryan to the GP surgery where Ryan was examined by another locum-doctor. The doctor told me that the tummy lump was a hernia and nothing suspicious,” says Loretta. “But a couple of weeks later we decided we wanted a second opinion as his temperature had still not subsided.” At that time Ryan’s temperature was over 40 degrees and he was taken into the children’s ward at Good Hope Hospital, after the family visited the out-of-hours Badger Clinic.

After being kept in overnight, Ryan was given an ultrasound scan which revealed a mass on his kidney. “The consultant told us there was a tumour on his kidney, but didn’t say the word cancer at that time. “Our world just fell apart. “We had gone to the hospital thinking he might have a virus and now we were getting transferred to the oncology ward at Birmingham Children’s Hospital.”

Ryan had a biopsy which confirmed that he had a Wilms tumour, a type of cancer of the kidney. The little boy would need pre-operative chemotherapy in an attempt to shrink the tumour and harden the tumour to facilitate surgery. But the chemotherapy would make the tiny tot feel very poorly and Loretta and Sean could only sit by his bedside, as he would feel too ill to move around the ward.

“At the time we felt utterly devastated,” says Loretta. “I felt angry that this could happen not only to my partner but our beautiful, innocent baby boy. “I remember coming home from hospital the day after we had been dealt this devastating news about Ryan. I went to his room to pack some clothes and I looked in his cot and burst into tears. “I was terrified my baby had been handed a death sentence and remember thinking he may never sleep in his little cot again.”

Meanwhile, Sean began 12 sessions of radiotherapy treatment at Little Aston Hospital. Fortunately, he was able to arrange his appointments in order to be at Ryan’s bedside as much as possible. “People would ask me how I was coping and I honestly don’t know,” admits Loretta. “You get given dates and appointments and you just focus on the next date that you are given.” On July 19, Ryan was then ready for surgery to remove the tumour, as well as his left kidney. It was after the operation that his parents were told the cancer was at stage three, meaning that the tumour had spread beyond the kidney, and Ryan would require a further 26 sessions of chemotherapy.

Finally, in May 2012, Ryan finished his treatment, and since then his regular scans have been coming back clear. Sean has also been given the all-clear. “We survived the whole thing in a blur,” says Loretta. “We would take each day as it came and focused on keeping our gorgeous boy well and as happy as possible.”

Now Loretta admits that the family have a new perspective on life, and are trying to raise as much money as possible for the new cancer unit appeal at Birmingham Children’s Hospital, which aims to raise £4 million to update the cancer unit facilities at the hospital. “We have learned to appreciate life and our family time together,” says Loretta.

Now the family are working hard to raise money for the cancer unit appeal, with Loretta and some of her close family raising £4,500 by running the Birmingham Half Marathon last year. “We are eternally grateful for what they have done for us,” says Loretta. “This is why we feel it is so important to raise money towards the cancer centre appeal so that the oncology ward and day clinic can be revamped so it is modernised, brightened and made more comfortable for the many children and families who will be given the devastating diagnosis of childhood cancer.”

Non Hodgkin lymphoma

The most common symptom of non Hodgkin lymphoma is one or more painless swellings in the neck, armpit, groin. Each swelling is an enlarged lymph node. If you have a swollen lymph node that does not go away after six weeks, you should see your GP. You may have other general symptoms such as:

* Heavy sweating at night

* Temperatures that come and go with no obvious cause

* Losing a lot of weight (more than one tenth of your total weight)

* Some people may also have unexplained itching.

Window Cleaners: Social Networking, Bananas & Vinnie Jones

Local businesses use social networking: Social-networking sites may seem like just a way to meet new people, but for Tony and Dawn Evans, social networking helped their business take off. Five years ago, when Tony Evans quit his job at a Wal-Mart deli, he knew very little about window cleaning. Today, he and his wife — also known as Mr. and Mrs. Squeegee — use social-networking sites to get in touch with other business owners and clientele. Online forums have been a huge help to the Evanses in their business, New View Window Cleaning. Window cleaners gather on the sites to discuss methods and new technology, post videos, and even arrange conferences, he said. “I’m pretty active in some window-cleaning forums where we get a lot of our information,” he said. “It helps us to cut down on our learning curve.” He also joined the social-networking site Twitter around a month ago and has amassed around 60 followers. For Mr. and Mrs. Squeegee, social networking has become essential to the operation of their business. “We were getting responses within the first couple of months from the website,” Evans said. “It’s been very, very beneficial for our business.”

Eric's 'banana' tumour ordeal: It was a mammoth operation to remove a mammoth brain tumour. In fact it took 18-and-a-half hours at the Royal Hallamshire Hospital to cut out a tumour the length of a banana and twice as wide. Now Eric Holden, aged 63, is recovering from his ordeal, grateful that specialised brain equipment funded by a Sheffield charity could be used to help save his life. He was diagnosed with a benign brain tumour in July 2008, after losing his reading sight. "When I was told I had a brain tumour it was a real shock, mainly because I didn't have any headaches or fits. I just lost my reading sight. I'd been to the opticians to tell them my glasses weren't strong enough but after new lenses failed to correct the problem, I was referred to the hospital for a field test.
"I failed this miserably, so I was referred for an MRI scan, which found I had a brain tumour entangled in my optic nerve. It was as long as a banana and twice as wide. I just couldn't believe something so big could fit in such a small space… "I was told the tumour needed to be removed so, soon after being diagnosed, I underwent a massive 18-and-a-half-hour operation. Surgeons removed the tumour using a microscope and endoscopic drill. "Although the operation went really well, I did have a long recovery time. For weeks after I slept constantly and my surgeon, Dr Tom Carroll, was really worried. But I was a lot better after a month or so. "After that I had Gamma Knife treatment to shrink the rest of the tumour. I won't know whether that has been successful for a few months yet. But my sight improved as soon as I had Gamma Knife treatment, which was a relief." Specialised equipment was funded by Neurocare, a charity which supports the neurosciences department at the Royal Hallamshire.
Doctors told him that without the operation he would have died. "But a factor which also played a part in my survival was my fitness level. Because I used to be a window cleaner, my fitness level was exceptional – in fact that of a 30-year-old. At my age that is pretty good going and it helped to save my life. "It's been a tough couple of years. Just before I was diagnosed one of my three children, Kristopher, who had cerebral palsy, passed away. Then this happened. My wife Patricia has been brilliant, a complete star. "We've been happily married for 46 years. She's the most wonderful person I could ever meet and she helped me enormously in my recovery.
"As for now, things have started to settle down a bit, although having to stop work has really impacted my life because I used to love it so much. I hope to get my fitness level back so one day maybe I can clean some windows again. But I feel brilliant again, so I'm grateful for that. I now need a new knee and then I'll be raring to go!" After hearing of the success of Eric's operation and the size of his tumour, The May Hearnshaw Trust made a donation of £35,000 to Neurocare, which helped to finance another piece of revolutionary equipment, the Skull Base Endoscope. It allows surgeons to operate more easily on life-threatening brain tumours in the skull base, which are particularly hard to reach.

Vehicle-mounted access platform - CTE lift: Specialist window-cleaning contractor RJ Norris has recently started using a CTE ZED21J vehicle-mounted access platform from CTE UK to be able to clean a wider range of buildings. The ZED21J is said to incorporate a sigma boom with a fly-jib to offer 21m maximum working height and access to windows and fascias even when there is an obstruction between the vehicle and working area.
The ZED21J has a maximum working load of 200kg in all possible configurations – enough, says CTE UK, for two average-sized people and up to 40kg of tools, with 10m outreach from 1 to 14m above ground level in a straight vertical line. Performance includes full and continuous 360o turret rotation for all-round access, with true zero tail-swing, which is important when working in narrow streets.
The company adds that simple controls inside the basket and at ground level allow users to operate the platform very easily. The boom and basket can be positioned using just one hand. The maximum working height of 21m is achieved by straightening the entire boom and fly-jib using the same controls. The vehicle can be driven by anyone with a normal ‘Category B’ car licence.

A Green Certification Adds Value To Any Company: The Green Business Leagues sister company Green Clean Institute has just certified Clean World USA. Clean World USA has received the Gold Certification from the Green Clean Institute, which is the highest level of Green Certification that a Janitorial firm can receive. They are located in the South Carolina area and are a large corporation that has made tremendous strides on developing a Green program in their company. Getting a Gold certification requires more than just token effort, it requires janitorial firms to educate, and implement green techniques and practices to their operations.

Police today renewed an appeal for help in finding a 33-year-old-man who has gone missing in Grove. Alexander Wileman was last seen leaving his home in Albermarle Drive on Wednesday, February 3, to go to work as a self-employed window cleaner. He was driving a white Citroen van at the time, with Red Star Window Cleaning written on the sides. Mr Wileman is described as white, 6ft tall, of medium build with cropped black hair. Police said they believed he was wearing a multi-coloured top like the one pictured. A police spokesman said: "Alexander’s partner received a letter saying that he was going to stay away. "He is a vulnerable person and Thames Valley Police appeals for his safe return. If you see him, please contact police immediately on 0845 8 505 505."

How to turn your children into nice little earners: Earning money not only lets parents off the hook (somewhat), it is good practice for later life, and might even help them acquire such useful skills as how to turn up on time, or sort out fractious infants. The problem is where to find these jobs. Shops won’t take under-16s, and often prefer responsible 18-year-olds. Waiting at parties isn’t an option for under-18s, who aren’t allowed to serve alcohol. And so few people now get their newspaper delivered in my area that the traditional boy on a bicycle has pedalled into history: our newsagent does drop-offs in his car. Sweeping up leaves and running errands for elderly neighbours are nice ideas, gleaned from the internet, though it takes a hard heart to charge the neighbour for fetching her milk from the corner shop. Window cleaning or grooming unfamiliar pets I would not encourage, because a trip to A & E after a fall from a ladder or a savage bite would be a bore.

Vinnie Jones: The Window Cleaner? What’s the worst job you’ve ever had? I bought a window cleaning round from a bloke when I was 17 – you buy a book with the addresses. People came out of their houses shouting: ‘What are you cleaning my windows for? Bugger off.’ He’d made the whole thing up. I was thinking it would make me a millionaire but it ended halfway down my street. I’d borrowed the £300 for the book; it may as well have been £3million. Not only did I not I have a business, I had a £300 debt.

DEPARTMENTAL INFO, WINDRUSH DR.: A resident who initially reported that he had arrived home to find footprints in the snow around his house called back on Saturday to notify police that the prints were those of a window-washer, as evidenced by an invoice he had later found.

Google unveils virtual glass elevator that lets you fly around the world (Melbourne): The Liquid Galaxy project is an interactive booth with wraparound LCD screens, reports News.com.au. Screens show synchronised views via Google Earth and you can use a six-axis mouse to move your way through air and water. The video was taken by Mashable staff at a live demo by creator Jason Holt at TED. "With the Liquid Galaxy, we could fly through the Grand Canyon, leap into low-Earth orbit, and come back down to perch on the Great Pyramid of Giza without even breaking a sweat." The effect is stunning. Take a look at the video.

About 1400 customers in Melbourne’s west are still without power, after lightning during yesterday’s storms struck transformers and strong winds blew tree branches and debris across power lines. The storms were also bad news for three men who fell while cleaning out roof gutters or carrying out repairs during the wild weather. A 67-year-old man tumbled more than three metres and dislocated his shoulder when his ladder buckled during his roof repairs at Springvale South. A second man, 48, fell from a ladder while cleaning his roof gutters at Red Hill, while a 63-year-old man injured his chest and ribs after falling while cleaning gutters in Boronia. Ambulance Victoria paramedic team manager Carmel Rogers should people should consider checking their homes before predicted weekend storms hit. "Carrying out repairs in the rain is quite hazardous with the potential for the ladder to slip," she said. Emergency crews are continuing to mop up after the devastating thunderstorm, which dumped more than 30 millimetres of rain over inner Melbourne in less than two hours.