🖋️ Title Diagnosed, Drugged, and Determined | by Shaun Ward | Aug, 2025
🖋️ Title
Diagnosed, Drugged, and Determined
Myth: You’ll know when you’ve got cancer. Spoiler: You probably won’t.
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I came home from Panama with a smashed leg, a broken appetite, and a throat that felt like it had been sandpapered by regret.
I hadn’t eaten properly in weeks, and when I finally saw the GP, he didn’t say much — just handed me Omeprazole like it was a magic bean and booked me in for an endoscope.
That endoscope? Easily the most uncomfortable part of the whole experience. If you’ve never had one, imagine being gagged by a robotic snake while trying to look dignified in a paper gown. The surgeon found “suspicious cells.” I found a new level of dread.
I called my wife. Told her she had to come to the hospital. Pandemic rules said no. Her instincts said yes. She showed up anyway — because when your husband says “they found something,” you don’t wait for permission.
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🎯 Diagnosis: Stage 3 Oesophageal Cancer
No spread, confirmed by PET scan. Just a tumour squatting in my throat like it paid rent.
The plan:
– 4 rounds of chemo
– Surgery to remove my oesophagus and half my stomach
– 4 more rounds of chemo
– Hope
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💉 Chemo Begins: The Good, the Bad, and the Pharmacist Freak-Out
January 29th, 2021. First two chemo sessions were tolerable — mostly fatigue, a bit of nausea, nothing dramatic. I was still swallowing like a python with a sore neck, but I was upright.
Then they upped the dose.
That third session knocked me sideways. I felt like I’d been hit by a truck full of regret and anti-nausea meds. When I told the pharmacist how unwell I was, she went full meltdown — apparently I wasn’t supposed to suffer. She dropped the dose for the final session, and I bounced back.
And then, like magic: I could swallow again.
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🍽️ Pigging Out with Purpose
I’d lost 30 pounds since August 2020. Now I had a licence to eat — build myself up before surgery. I took that licence and ran with it. Burgers, pies, anything that didn’t fight back. It was glorious.
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🧨 Myth to Bust: “Chemo always makes you bald and bedridden.”
Nope. Sometimes it just makes you tired, cranky, and weirdly hungry. I didn’t lose my hair. I didn’t lose my mind. I just lost my tolerance for bland hospital food and vague platitudes.
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💬 Closing Thoughts
Episode 2 ends with me gearing up for surgery — full of calories, cautious optimism, and a healthy dose of sarcasm. The worst was yet to come, but I’d already learned one thing: cancer doesn’t follow a script. And neither would I.
—:
– Cancer
– Chemotherapy
– Oesophageal Cancer
– Cancer Survivor
– Personal Story
– Myth Busting
– Health
Shaun Ward is a cancer survivor, maritime consultant, whisky enthusiast, and professional myth-buster. Diagnosed with stage 3 oesophageal cancer in 2021, he faced chemo, surgery, and recovery with grit, sarcasm, and a set of jolly roger braces ☠️He writes to challenge clichés, share the raw truth, and occasionally rant about reflux. Still standing. Still swearing. Still here.
