Lisburn man shares his cancer journey

Transcript

00:00I'm Alistair Mackay and I'm the retired principal of Finnecke Primary School. I have three grown-up

00:09daughters and one's now a teacher and the other two are still at university. I've been married

00:15to Jill for the past couple of years and we live in Lisburn and we have two cockapoos to look after

00:23us and entertain us. Almost six years ago now I went to the Royal Victoria Hospital for an

00:38investigation into gallstones and it was only during the ultrasound scan that I found out there

00:46was something a bit more going on. The nurse doing the scan said she would like to go and get a doctor

00:53to have a look at the scan and that day discovered that I had a seven centimeter tumor on my left

01:00kidney so that came as quite a shock. Very rapidly the team at the RVH had me in for kidney to be

01:13removed and about five weeks after that I was back at work again. Unfortunately just as I was starting

01:20to think maybe I had beaten it, it turned out that I developed a pain between my shoulder blades

01:26and after some further scans and ultrasounds and bone scans they discovered that sadly the

01:34cancer had spread to my spine. The medical team swung into action very rapidly. I underwent an intensive

01:42week of radiotherapy and quickly was put onto a chemotherapy-related drug called Sutent which I have

01:52been on for the past three years now and it has been keeping me stable.

01:58I have a link nurse that I've had for the past three years called Mel who has been the person

02:12who coordinates essentially all of my care and her post is in fact funded by friends of the cancer

02:19centre so I have a lot to be grateful for with regards to the charity. Mel is my first point of

02:26contact if I have any questions she coordinates my care and I can phone her at any time I text her we

02:35email and she has helped me through some difficult times and she's laughed with me through happier

02:41times and no question is too stupid and no issues too small she's always there and such an important

02:50person to have contact with. Living with cancer certainly does focus your mind and it makes you aware

02:57that we all do have a limited time on planet earth Mel said to me some time ago Alistair don't let

03:06your cancer define you. Since my cancer diagnosis I have well I've got married I've recently retired and I

03:14have taken up woodwork which I very much enjoy and the profit of the things that from the things that

03:21I make and sell goes to friends of the cancer centre. My sisters and I were all so proud of how dad has

03:29gone through with his treatment and how he never really complains he just gets on with it and the days

03:35where he is tired or the treatment is negatively affecting him he just continues to power through and

03:41and being hopeful and giving back to the charity knowing that people are in some situations to him

03:48and that with the treatment and the care from the nurses that they can continue to live their life to

03:54the fullest. I would say if you can get involved in fundraising for the cancer centre in any way that

04:01you should do so it is a fantastic charity it supports staff and it supports research into cancer

04:09and so absolutely fabulous charity and certainly one that I am now quite committed to.