Memories

On 21st December 2006, I drove for 40 minutes through rush hour traffic to the hospital for an appointment with the consultant I'd been referred to several months earlier. The previous week, another consultant had carried out some procedures and, after doing so, he told me - three times - 'This doesn't look like cancer to me', 'I don't think this is cancer', 'I don't think you have cancer'. So, I arrived at the hospital expecting to be told that I'd need, at most, some minor surgery.

Although mine was the first appointment of the day, the consultant was delayed in surgery with an emergency. She arrived eventually, a little flustered, and, five minutes later, I was in her office hearing her say, 'I'm really sorry, but the pathology has revealed you do have cancer and we'll need to carry out surgery as a matter of urgency. I can do it next Wednesday, 27th December.'

Although that sounds quite a bald way of imparting the news, I'll be forever grateful that she didn't hedge and simply told me what the situation was and what had to be done. She was happy to answer my questions, telling me that, no, she'd never lost a patient in surgery and I certainly wasn't going to be the first one!

And then, because we were near to the holiday period break, instead of making an appointment for me to come back to have pre-operative checks, I was sent to have those done immediately. I really didn't have time to think about it.

Today is the fifth anniversary of that day. Some dates stick in your mind forever. But it's five years now. And next week, I'll have been cancer-free for five years!