My name is Eamonn. I am a husband to a surprisingly tolerant wife, and father to a five year old girl and seven year old boy. We live a very nice life in Harpenden near London. I also happen to be terminally ill.
In January 2012 I was diagnosed with stage III pleural mesothelioma. That is the kind of cancer you get around the lungs after exposure from asbestos. Normally it manifests in retired men with a history in the building trade, not forty year old desk jockeys, so to say it was a bit out of the blue is an understatement.
At this time, my condition is one that can be treated but not cured. There are always trials of new medications, treatments and procedures, but these can be even more dangerous than the cancer, so other than well established chemo and radiotherapy, I have not pushed for any medical Hail Marys.
The normal mean life expectancy for my condition at diagnosis was a year, but more than two years later I’m still here feeling relatively physically healthy. My outlier position on the statistical graph, and responsiveness to chemotherapy has no doubt helped in this regard, but the capricious nature of cancer wards against complacency.
You can read more about my story with cancer and terminal diagnosis in my articles, ‘Skyfall‘ and ‘The Good Delusion’.
This inconvenience has brought the realities of life into sharp relief and my website, www.whothehelldoeshethinkheis.com is the forum in which I have decided to release these thoughts before shuffling this mortal coil. They are honest and therefore sometimes may seem uncompromising. Shouldn’t they always be?
If you think that’s probably an overstatement, you may want to stop reading now. Of course we both know you won’t, but you might want to read a bit about the articles before embarking on our little intellectual journey together.
