A ROCHDALE cancer campaigner who smoked from the age of 11 and survived lung cancer is issuing a rallying cry for people to help end the number one cause of death in the North West – smoking.
The call from Sue Scott, who was smoking 40 cigarettes a day when she was diagnosed with lung cancer, comes as the latest analysis by Cancer Research UK estimates that tobacco causes the death of one person in the North West every 40 minutes.*
Smoking is linked to at least 15 different types of cancer – including lung and bowel cancer – and is estimated to be responsible for around 7,300 cancer deaths in the region each year. That’s around a third of all cancer deaths in the North West.**
Sue, from Littleborough, experienced first-hand the devastating impact of smoking having faced a lung cancer diagnosis just as she was looking forward to retirement and looking after her baby grandson.
The self-confessed workaholic simply thought she was suffering from exhaustion from her busy job running a community hub. As the funding for the project was coming to an end in the spring of 2019, she made the decision to stop work.
But during the very first week of Sue’s retirement when she was turning her hand to DIY and caring for her one year-old grandchild Jevonte, Sue began to feel light-headed and dizzy and also experienced stabbing pains in her back.
The grandmother-of-three, who had felt in good health for most of her life, just assumed she had pulled a muscle and possibly had a viral infection.
But when the symptoms continued and she still felt exhausted, she saw her GP who booked her in for blood tests, a test for COPD and a chest x-ray.
Fortunately, Sue was with her daughter Emma when the results came back and the GP told her she had an abnormality on her lung.
On May 1, 2019, Sue, who was aged 58 at the time, was given the devastating news that she had stage three lung cancer and that without treatment she could have 12 months to live.
She immediately vowed to stop smoking and received help from a smoking cessation service in Rochdale which provided her with nicotine patches and support.
Sue was told she needed a full lung removal, but that if the water on her lungs showed any trace of cancer once she was opened up, then the surgery wouldn’t go ahead and she would need to prepare for palliative treatment. So, as Sue was wheeled to the operating theatre, she had no idea what the future held.
The surgery at Wythenshawe Hospital went well and Sue made a good recovery. She had four rounds of chemotherapy treatment following the surgery.
But by October the same year Sue was gobsmacked to be told she was cancer free. She feels very lucky to be alive and classes herself a “walking miracle”. Jevonte, the grand-son she thought she would never see grow up, is now aged five. And she is also very close to her grand-daughters Lanelle aged 15, and 12-year-old Chantae.
The 63-year-old said: “When I was told I had lung cancer all I could think about was never, ever smoking again and that I was determined to survive to see my grand-son’s second birthday.
“It was a hellish time for my family who were all so worried, but I concentrated on getting through the treatment and the end goal. I owe my life to my surgeon Mr Fontaine and my oncologist Dr Califano. I still get breathless now only having one lung, but I am just so glad to be alive and enjoying life.”
