A couple of weeks ago I got the five-year all clear from cancer. It was more of a relief than a cause for fist-pumping celebration.
I'm pretty sure aberrant cancer cells don't work in time spans, one year, five or 10. They can kick off at any time. However, our over-taxed medical profession has to set parameters on how long they see people. The care I've received over the last five years has been remarkable and humbling.
A virus was the trigger for my throat cancer. That's a positive as these sorts of cancers have a high rate of survival. I learnt this during a multi-disciplinary meeting with specialists, nurses, a dentist, dietician and speech therapist to evaluate my condition and make a call on a treatment plan.
Having a camera up my nose in front of 20 or so health professionals wasn't much fun. However, the conclusion that it was treatable set off a surprisingly enthusiastic ripple of smiles and nodding heads. Oncology is a tough area to be in with more losses than wins on the board.
The major part of my treatment was radiotherapy and so I was assigned to a specialist in this area who I saw after the meeting. He reinforced the survival rate of 80 per cent while running through the long list of consequences and potential side effects. He told me something I'd hear at least once a week from the start of treatment. Yes, I'd survive but the radiotherapy sessions, five per week for seven weeks, and three doses of nuclear-strength chemotherapy are one of the toughest treatment plans on offer.