Former Byron Shire councillor Ian Hosken, who has been diagnosed with cancer for the second time, has organised a cancer-awareness fundraiser at Mullumbimby Golf Club next Saturday 25 October.
Mr Hosken, 63, who has lived at Main Arm for almost 35 years, was an independent councillor between 1995-99.
The following is an account of his experience and feelings after the latest diagnosis.
Finding out for the second time I had another cancer, a different one, really knocked the wind out of my sails. I couldn’t believe it, I didn’t feel like talking to anyone nor did I feel like telling anyone I had cancer… again.
However it’s pretty hard keeping news like that under your hat for too long, especially around here and so before long I was getting lots of support from people who cared.
The first time I got cancer I was living in Japan with my partner having a great time. I started developing a continuous sore throat, which got progressively worse. The doctor I was seeing in Japan thought that I had acid reflux from a stomach ulcer and prescribed a big bag of pills to fix it.
We packed up our lives and headed back to Oz, where I was treated in Sydney with radiotherapy and chemo. After three months of that I felt a bit like death warmed up and looked like a wreck.
The second cancer however took me completely by surprise. I was over in northwestern Australia, travelling around and camping heaps, going for some great walks and doing some work.
I had been getting some stomach pains on and off for a couple of months but nothing too serious, just a few niggles here and there which felt a bit like something a good poo would fix. I was eating far too much meat, as you do in the outback, and thought that was the problem.
I came back to the east coast to help my sister paint her house, I didn’t have too much energy and felt like I was still tired from the drive back but how long does it take to recuperate from a bit of a drive?
One night after a couple of weeks, I went to bed feeling fine and was woken with excruciating gut pains, my stomach was blown up like a ball and tight as a drum. Something was obviously not good.
I was taken from Mullum hospital to Tweed by ambo and later that day, as an emergency procedure (because they thought my intestine could burst), they removed a section of my bowel that had been blocked by a growth. I was pretty optimistic that was all it was.
After ten days or so I got the results from pathology which confirmed my worst fears, it showed the growth was a stage-3 tumour, that had learnt to escape through the bowel wall and had infected a couple of lymph nodes.
The point of this rave is that if I’d had a colonoscopy six months to a year earlier, then the operation would possibly have been the end of the story.
Firstly the operation would have been way simpler, possibly just requiring key-hole surgery, and secondly, I wouldn’t be faced with having chemotherapy to mop up any rogue cells that may be lurking around.
I really was reticent to go down the chemo path as I knew from past experience that it can make you feel as sick as a dog and that it also can have some pretty nasty side effects. After much deliberation I decided to go down that path as I felt it would give me my best chance.
The first round of chemo gave me massive chest pains for half a day. I was rushed from Tweed emergency ward to John Flynn Hospital in Tugun for an angiogram as they suspected I was having a heart attack. I didn’t have a heart attack but I did spend another four days in hospital for observation.
Evidently I was one of a small percentage of people in whom this particular drug can trigger heart attacks.
The oncologist said that he thought that I shouldn’t continue down that path as there is no point in treating cancer if you die of a heart attack.
This news was very different from what I expected, on hearing it I felt a load lift from my shoulders and I walked out of his office feeling much lighter and not sick anymore. It took a while to come to grips with a new reality.
This whole episode has been quite a trip and it’s not over yet, although I feel like the worst is behind me. I feel grateful that I live in a country that has a really good public health system, which this current government would love to dismantle, and grateful for the support that I have received.
I feel that cancer, like mental health, is a dirty word and that people would rather brush it under the table.
Many cancers are preventable, through lifestyle choice, or are treatable if detected early.
Like myself, many men think that they are bullet-proof and avoid following up issues around their health. I would encourage any male over 50 to have a colonoscopy, you may well save yourself a big problem.
A couple of friends of mine and my son are organising a golf/dinner day as a fundraiser for myself and cancer research and hopefully raising some awareness in men around their health.
The day involves nine holes of ambrose golf, which can make even a mug golfer look good, at Mullumbimby Golf Club on 25 October at 2pm.
That will be followed by an evening at the Sabi Japanese restaurant in Ocean Shores for anyone who would like to come along at 6pm, where there will be a lot of good food and some music and an auction if anyone would like to donate anything of interest. Cost for the nine holes plus buggy is $45, for golf, dinner and live music $85, and for dinner only $50.
Bookings are essential. For those interested, call Jeremy Martin 0431 184835, Paul Pattinson 0411 897667 or Solai Hosken 0422 405887.
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
