Retired welding engineer Ric Myers from Leeds is passionate about raising awareness of lung cancer.
Ric, who is a Champion with the Cancer SMART initiative which we run in partnership with the West Yorkshire & Harrogate Cancer Alliance, was keen to be interviewed by Dr Amir Khan as part of a recent awareness raising campaign #DOITFORYOURSELF
“I was lucky in that they caught my lung cancer early. I had a persistent cough which was quite different to the smoker’s cough, I used to have when I smoked,” said Ric who was diagnosed in 2016.
Although initially dismissed as a virus, two chest X-rays confirmed that Ric had cancer, and he was scheduled for surgery at the Bexley Wing, Leeds, to remove a lump. Unfortunately he had a reaction to the morphine and spent five days in Intensive Care.
He was due to have three courses of chemotherapy, but he developed sepsis, and his treatment was halted. Scans remained clear for nearly two years until in 2108, when black marks were detected on his left lung.
NICE (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence) had just approved a combination of chemotherapy and immunotherapy to be given to lung cancer patients and Ric was the first patient in Harrogate District Hospital, to be offered this treatment.
The regime continued until recently, when due to the number of infections he was contracting, the treatment was paused. Scans show the cancer is static. Ric is has diabetes, COPD and Addison’s Disease, which is a rare disorder of the adrenal gland.
Looking back, Ric confesses he has been a prodigious smoker and not looked after his diet or exercised. He was a very fit cyclist as a schoolboy, training daily, but when he started work, the welding shops of those times were thick with smoke.
“You couldn’t see your hand in front of your face. It was the norm and there was no awareness that it was an unhealthy thing to do,” he recalls.
Ric was smoking as many as 40 cigarettes a day, and developed a bad smoker’s cough. It was when he had frequent bouts of shortness of breath, he realized he needed to stop, so he could be well enough to be around for any grandchildren that might come along.
He stopped in 2014, using a smoking cessation clinic, which he found gave him the support he needed.
“It’s a bit like fighting cancer, you need the right mental approach to give up smoking. Being there for my grandchildren was all the motivation I needed.”
Ric joined a Support Group set up at Sir Robert Ogden Macmillan Centre, Harrogate for lung cancer patients and their families.
He found meeting with other patients and their loved ones to be reassuring, knowing he was not alone.
He knows the last 18 months must have been difficult for anyone with a smoker’s cough. “Any cough has assumed to be Covid, but if you’ve had it for three weeks, it’s time to get it checked out, “ he advised.
Ric’s tip is to make a list of your symptoms when you go and visit the GP for the first time. That way you are equipped to answer any questions.
“Don’t be afraid. The sooner you get diagnosed, the better the outcome. The staff at Harrogate and Bexley were so kind, so supportive and with me every step of the way. You need the right mental approach. Take small steps and set small goals which can be easily measured.”