“It’s frightening. I’m not going to say it’s not frightening because it is. It’s a terrible thing but you can beat it and people are beating it. Look at me – I’m living proof!”
Being a former smoker and miner, when Norman developed a bad cough, he didn’t think much about it but his children recognised the importance of going to the doctor with a persistent cough and so demanded he go. And thank goodness they did…
“I’d had a bad cough the previous six, seven months. I never thought anything about it because I used to smoke and being a miner and all, it all seemed to go together.
But the kids kept on at me all the time. They said they weren’t going to come down again unless I went to the doctors so I thought I’d go.
I was diagnosed with lung cancer in March 2013.
Straight away you think I thought to myself well it’s a death sentence. I’m going to die.
It’s not just you, it’s your family. You’ve got your loved ones, your children, your friends. They’re probably more frightened, more worried about it than you actually so you’ve got to be with them and think of them.
Sandra was very frightened. I used to hear her crying.
In between the period of being diagnosed with it and before the operation, I woke up a few times crying because you don’t know what’s going to happen, do you?
It’s frightening. I’m not going to say it’s not frightening because it is.
It is really frightening at times, but try and be positive. I thought it was the end and it wasn’t. And that was five years ago. There’s much out there now in terms of treatment, a lot than when I was diagnosed.
It’s a terrible thing but it doesn’t meant the end. Look at me, living proof of it.
