THE WELL-known gardener and broadcaster Dermot O’Neill has revealed that he has stomach cancer. Mr O’Neill says he is optimistic that the drugs he is taking will cure the disease, but admits he is not out of the woods yet.
He is currently receiving chemotherapy through a hole that was drilled in his head by surgeons at Beaumont Hospital.
On the RTÉ Radio 1 Today with Pat Kennyprogramme yesterday, he explained how he initially thought he had an ulcer similar to the one that he had as a teenager.
His skin broke out in a rash and doctors at the Beacon Clinic initially suspected a stomach ulcer, until tests eventually discovered it was stomach cancer. He was referred to Prof John Crown at St Vincent’s hospital, Dublin.
Mr O’Neill said he was “horrified and shocked” to realise that he had stomach cancer and lymphoma and he was still on an emotional journey trying to come to terms with his illness. At one stage he “cried and cried and cried”.
Prof Crown told him he needed to have a small hole drilled in his cranium. He asked what would be the consequences of such a procedure. “You either do it or you die,” the consultant responded.
“That was the moment I realised I had to hand over my trust and my life to Dr Crown,” Mr O’Neill said yesterday.
He also has cancerous cells in his spinal cerebral fluid. It was much easier, he added, for doctors to administer chemotherapy through a hole in his head to remove cancerous cells.
Mr O’Neill said the cancer was only in his stomach now and the drugs were already having an effect. He said his lymphoma was “very treatable” and he was confident of making a full recovery.
He is best known as a contributor to RTÉ Radio 1 and through his column in the RTÉ Guide. He is a former gardening columnist with The Irish Times.
He said his own garden, Clondeglass near the Slieve Bloom mountains, meant more to him now than ever and would be part of his healing process. It will be the subject of a programme on RTÉ television to be broadcast next year.
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