Reasons to be cheerful

[Gob]

Wilko Johnson has spoken of the strange "euphoria" he has experienced since being diagnosed with terminal cancer.

The former Dr Feelgood guitarist said the news made him feel "vividly alive" - and lifted the bouts of depression he had previously experienced.

But Johnson told Radio 4's Front Row programme he would cancel his planned farewell gigs if he began to feel sick.

The 65-year-old revealed earlier this month that he was suffering from terminal cancer of the pancreas.

He told Front Row's John Wilson: "I noticed the symptoms a few months ago - there was this lump in my stomach. I treated it by ignoring it and hoping it would go away.

"When I went in for the diagnosis and the doctor told me 'You've got cancer' it was quite plain it was an inoperable thing, there was nothing they could do.

"We walked out of there and I felt an elation of spirit. You're walking along and suddenly you're vividly alive. You're looking at the trees and the sky and everything and it's just 'whoah'.

"I am actually a miserable person. I've spent most of my life moping in depressions and things, but this has all lifted."

Johnson explained he was given nine or 10 months to live and refused chemotherapy when it was clear it might only add another two months to his life.

"I just wanna know how long I'm gonna feel like this, which is absolutely fine," he said.

Johnson is due to play four dates in France at the beginning of February, followed by three successive nights at the Greystones pub in Sheffield.

His farewell tour concludes with dates in London, Bilston, Holmfirth and Glasgow in March.

But he admitted: "If the cancer kicks in before that, then I can't go on stage. I'm not going to go on stage looking ill - I don't wanna present a sorry spectacle!

"This position I'm in is so strange, in that I do feel fit and yet I know death is upon me.

"I'm not hoping for a miracle cure or anything. I just hope it spares me long enough to do these gigs - then I'll be a happy man."

While admitting saying goodbye to people was hard, Johnson insisted he did not feel down about his condition.

"I am a feather for each wind that blows and the wind's blowing me this way now. But yet I still retain this marvellous feeling of freedom," he said.

"The things that used to bring me down, or worry me, or annoy me, they don't matter anymore - and that's when you sit thinking 'Wow, why didn't I work this out before? Why didn't I work out before that it's just the moment you're in that matters?'

"Worrying about the future or regretting the past is just a foolish waste of time. Of course we can't all be threatened with imminent death, but it probably takes that to knock a bit of sense into our heads."

Johnson, who also played with Ian Dury's Blockheads and the Wilko Johnson Band, lost his wife, Irene, to cancer eight years ago.

He admitted: "I'm still prone to bursting into tears thinking about her, but I've never come anywhere near that thinking about myself.

"Right now it's just fantastic - it makes you feel alive. Just walking down the street you really feel alive.

"Every little thing you see, every cold breeze against your face, every brick in the road, you think 'I'm alive, I'm alive' - I hope I can hang onto that.

"I've had a fantastic life. When I think about the things that have happened to me and the things I've done, I think anybody who asks for more would just be being greedy. I don't wanna be greedy."

[oldr_n_wsr]

Sorry to him for the diagnosis as pancreatic cancer is almost always a 1 year or less to live cancer. (my cousin died of it 9 months after diagnosis) May he make the best of the time he has.

[Gob]

Now Iain Banks

Author Iain Banks has revealed that he has late stage cancer and is unlikely to live for more than a year.

The Scottish writer posted a message on his official website saying his next novel The Quarry, due to be published later this year, would be his last.

The 59-year-old's novels include The Wasp Factory, The Crow Road, Complicity and the Culture series.

The statement said his health problems came to light when he saw his doctor, suffering from a sore back.

He was diagnosed with jaundice, before further tests established the full extent of his illness.

In the personal statement on his website, Banks said he had asked his partner Adele to marry him and was now on a short honeymoon.

Fellow Scottish author, Ian Rankin, said the news of Banks' terminal cancer was "just awful".

He Tweeted: "Typical of Iain to propose marriage to his partner Adele with the words 'Will you do me the honour of becoming my widow?"

Banks, who lives in North Queensferry, Fife, said he had cancelled all future public engagements.

He said: "The bottom line now, I'm afraid, is that as a late-stage gall bladder cancer patient, I'm expected to live for 'several months' and it's extremely unlikely I'll live beyond a year.

"So it looks like my latest novel, The Quarry, will be my last."

He said the disease had spread to both lobes of his liver, and possibly his pancreas and lymph nodes.

The author said there was little chance of surgeons being able to remove the tumours because of how far they had spread.

He has asked his publishers to bring forward the publication of his new book to "give me a better chance of being around when it hits the shelves."

Banks also praised NHS staff who have looked after him - and said he may undergo chemotherapy to extend his life when his jaundice clears up.

He said: "We're all just sorry the outcome hasn't been more cheerful."

Born in Fife, Banks studied at Stirling University before publishing his first novel, The Wasp Factory, in 1984.

He has alternated between mainstream and science fiction novels, which he wrote under the name Iain M Banks.

In 2008, he was named one of the 50 greatest British writers since 1945 in a list compiled by The Times.

News of his illness was described as "terribly sad" by First Minister Alex Salmond.

He said: "Iain Banks is a remarkable writer who has made a lasting contribution to Scottish literature and culture, inspiring and enthralling readers for 30 years.

"My thoughts are very much with Iain, his wife and family and his friends at this very difficult time."

A website has been created for friends and fans to leave messages for Banks.

Taggart actor Colin McCredie is among the people who have expressed their shock on Twitter.

He wrote: "Sad news about Iain Banks and his illness. There was a period of about 5 years when his output was phenomenal!! Always loved Espedair Street."

Edinburgh Book Festival tweeted: "Such sad news. Iain Banks our thoughts are with you and your loved ones."

The Scottish Book Trust added: "We're all shocked and saddened by Iain Banks' news. We send our best wishes to him, his family and friends."

Among the fans who commented on the news was @flashboy, who tweeted: "Horrible news about Iain Banks. Two of our best authors."

[oldr_n_wsr]

Never heard of him, but I am truly sorry.

[Gob]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilko_Johnson

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iain_Banks

[Lord Jim]

This must get the award for " The Most Misnamed Thread Of All Time"...

On my short list of " Reasons to be cheerful", contracting terminal cancer wouldn't make the top hundred....

In fact it wouldn't make the top thousand....

[Gob]

"When I went in for the diagnosis and the doctor told me 'You've got cancer' it was quite plain it was an inoperable thing, there was nothing they could do.

"We walked out of there and I felt an elation of spirit. You're walking along and suddenly you're vividly alive. You're looking at the trees and the sky and everything and it's just 'whoah'.

"I am actually a miserable person. I've spent most of my life moping in depressions and things, but this has all lifted."

[Gob]

Author Iain Banks has died aged 59, two months after announcing he had terminal cancer, his family has said.



Banks, who was born in Dunfermline, Fife, revealed in April he had gall bladder cancer and was unlikely to live for more than a year.

He was best known for his novels The Wasp Factory, The Crow Road and Complicity.

In a statement, his publisher said he was "an irreplaceable part of the literary world".

A message posted on Banksophilia, a website set up to provide fans with updates on the author, quoted his wife Adele saying: "Iain died in the early hours this morning. His death was calm and without pain."

Publisher Little, Brown Book Group said the author was "one of the country's best-loved novelists" for both his mainstream and science fiction books.

"Iain Banks' ability to combine the most fertile of imaginations with his own highly distinctive brand of gothic humour made him unique," it said.

After announcing his illness in April, Banks asked his publishers to bring forward the release date of his latest novel, The Quarry, so he could see it on the shelves.

On Sunday, it was revealed the book - to be released on 20 June - would detail the physical and emotional strain of cancer.
Iain Banks books Banks wrote sci-fi titles under the name Iain M Banks

It describes the final weeks of the life of a man in his 40s who has terminal cancer.

[Gob]

Terminally-ill musician Wilko Johnson's local pub has honoured him by changing its sign to feature his portrait.



Former Dr Feelgood guitarist Johnson, 65, is a regular at The Railway Hotel in Southend, Essex.

In January he announced he had pancreatic cancer and had been given nine or ten months to live but had refused chemotherapy.

Johnson, whose farewell tour in February and March sold out, said he was delighted at the honour.

"Over the last year I have become a bit of a regular and, believe me, it's a good place to be," he said.

"I love The Railway Hotel and this thing they've done - putting my mush up outside - well, what can I say?

"What an honour. Immortality!"
Wilko Johnson Wilko Johnson has refused chemotherapy for his cancer

The new sign has been painted by artist Jack Melville, 55, another regular at the pub in Clifftown Road.

Dave Dulake, landlord of The Railway Hotel, said: "Everybody seems chuffed to bits.

"Wilko seems to sum up the spirit of this place.

"The way that he's taken the news of his illness and just carried on playing and jamming with people, and keeping spirits up, seems to give a bit of inspiration."

Johnson, real name John Wilkinson, was born on Canvey Island, Essex.

He became well known for his choppy playing style and his jerky, frantic stage persona and was a major influence on punk rock.

After leaving Dr Feelgood in 1977, he joined Ian Dury's Blockheads and formed his own group, The Wilko Johnson Band.

He has also acted in fantasy series Game of Thrones, playing an executioner.

[oldr_n_wsr]

Pancreatic cancer sucks. And I remember this guy from the 70's and Dr Feelgood. Don't remember ever seeing them play but I might have at CBGB's.

My cousin died of pancreatic cancer. It's the number one charity I give to.

[Gob]

They were a great band, pub rock crossed with nascent punk attitude.

I saw Wilko with them and with Ian Dury.

[Gob]

Tony Parsons speaks exclusively to an unsinkable Wilko Johnson as he undergoes treatment for pancreatic cancer - one so complex, it doesn't even have a name yet...

"There is a small chance of dying," Wilko Johnson told me in advance of the major operation he had this Wednesday. "But that's nothing. Because for over a year I have been living with a 100 per cent chance of dying."

Wilko Johnson was expecting to be dead and buried by now. But just before he went into the operating theatre of Addenbrookes Hospital, Cambridge, he spoke to me about the surgery that might save his life.

"I was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer at the end of 2012," recalls the former Dr Feelgood guitarist, 66. "Inoperable. I had ten months to live. Chemotherapy could perhaps stretch it to another couple of months." He laughs so hard that he almost spills his double espresso. "It was not difficult to decide I didn't want this chemotherapy…"

Wilko Johnson had resigned himself to death. But now, in an extraordinary twist of fate, he has had an operation that removed his football-size tumour, as well as his entire pancreas, his spleen, part of his stomach, parts of both his small and large intestines, and involved the removal and reconstruction of blood vessels relating to the liver.

http://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/comment/ar ... -interview

[Gob]

Former Dr Feelgood guitarist Wilko Johnson has said he has been "cured" of the terminal pancreatic cancer with which he was diagnosed in 2012.

The 67-year-old was initially given 10 months to live after rejecting chemotherapy, but had radical surgery to remove the tumour earlier this year.

"It was an 11-hour operation," he said at the Q Awards in London.

"This tumour weighed 3kg - that's the size of a baby," he continued. "Anyway, they got it all. They cured me."

The guitarist went on his "farewell tour" in 2013 and recorded an album with The Who's Roger Daltrey.

"I thought that was going to be the last thing I ever did," he told BBC News entertainment correspondent Colin Paterson after the ceremony on Wednesday.

[MajGenl.Meade]

So Wilko Johnson
you'll get to be an old buffer then
my friend Keith's mum says
roger Wilko over and
not out

[wesw]

a lot of what this fellow says makes perfect sense to me. I did not shed very many tears when I thought I was a goner.

when I thought I was losing my better half, I was destroyed.

[oldr_n_wsr]

Pancreatic cancer is a bitch. He is the first I have heard that may have beat it.

Hope he has a looooooooonnnnnng recovery.

[TPFKA@W]

Each and every one of us faces 100% chance of dying. We just aren't sure how or when.
Make the most of your time.

[Lord Jim]

I had a filling fall out , so I made an "emergency" trip to the dentist...because it hurt like hell...

(It hurt like listening to rubato expound on WW II; it hurt that bad...)

After they finally took care of that, I was given the news that I need a root canal...(that's going to happen sometime in the next two weeks)

So I came home, feeling about a hundred years old, and then my son jumps up into my arms, and I swing him around and throw him on my shoulders and tickle him and listen to him laugh, and I think, "I still have reasons to be cheerful"...

[Gob]

Nice!!

[oldr_n_wsr]

"I still have reasons to be cheerful

Make sure you don't think of that up coming root canal. I does hurt. Even with a shitload of novacaine.