Ross McBride's Story
Ross McBride
I’m a potter and have always had a keen passion for art. I kept this up over the years as an art teacher and at the moment I’m involved in a group with 19 others artists running an arts and crafts shop in Lane Cove in Sydney.
I was a teacher for 42 years and became School Principal at Birrong Girls before retiring in 1998. My wife and I travelled overseas after I retired and while we were in China in 2005 I began feeling a bit sick. Of course I blamed it on foreign food, but it continued to get worse until I was almost blacking out.
I was put into hospital immediately and within a week I had surgery for colorectal cancer, and I have been slowly getting better since.
Having cancer made me very aware of my own mortality. Within a few weeks you can be struck down and be dead. So now I am all in favour of people having colonoscopies, because colorectal cancer is so treatable early on. It’s an intrusive procedure but people shouldn’t let that worry them as it has the potential to eliminate colon cancer within the next couple of generations.
For me it’s important to contribute to organisations like the GI CANCER Institute to share my experience of cancer. People like to hear stories about other people just like them who have overcome adversity; it’s a really powerful thing.
Clinical trials can offer opportunities for people who may not otherwise be able to access new therapies or expensive drugs. Trials are a great leveller in this way and so they should be supported.
I was put into hospital immediately and within a week I had surgery for colorectal cancer, and I have been slowly getting better since.
Having cancer made me very aware of my own mortality. Within a few weeks you can be struck down and be dead. So now I am all in favour of people having colonoscopies, because colorectal cancer is so treatable early on. It’s an intrusive procedure but people shouldn’t let that worry them as it has the potential to eliminate colon cancer within the next couple of generations.
For me it’s important to contribute to organisations like the GI CANCER Institute to share my experience of cancer. People like to hear stories about other people just like them who have overcome adversity; it’s a really powerful thing.
Clinical trials can offer opportunities for people who may not otherwise be able to access new therapies or expensive drugs. Trials are a great leveller in this way and so they should be supported.