Watch Insight's episode Fateful Decisions on Tuesday 19 March at 8:30pm on SBS or on SBS On Demand
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Fateful Decisions
episode • Insight • news and current affairs • 52m
episode • Insight • news and current affairs • 52m
"We'd like you to make a decision in the next hour or so," the doctor said.
These words, spoken by a doctor I had met for the first time earlier that day, were about to change my life forever.
I had just one hour to decide if I wanted to be a part of a trial treatment that may save my life or kill me.
My life was in the balance at that moment.
The big move up to Queensland
In October 2000, I had decided that life in Sydney after 50-plus years had lost a lot of its gloss. I wanted to change my life and that of my wife and three young sons.
I knew it was going to be a big adventure, but not in the way it turned out.
Ever since I was about 17 and went on a surf trip to then little-known Noosa, I decided that I would live there one day. Now I was going to make it happen.
I sold my house, and just about everything else, and just like the Beverley Hillbillies, we loaded up the truck.
Two days later we arrived at our new home, got the boys into school and before we knew it my family and I were living the idyllic life.
Life was as good as it gets. I was very healthy and active. I enjoyed surfing, going to the gym, running, and riding motorcycles with my wife — it was something right out of the movies.
I thought I was killing it, but in reality, something was killing me.
The day my life changed
About eight months later I developed a cough that just wouldn’t go away, so I went to the doctor who had concerns and ordered scans right away.
The scans very clearly showed three significant growths in my oesophagus. At that moment my world came crashing down and I thought to myself: 'this was not part of the plan!'
As luck would have it, I happened to be a part of a work group that met every Monday and one of the men in the group had just recovered from a cancer operation. It was the same type that I had, so I called him up and he gave me the name of his surgeon in Brisbane.
He agreed to see me in two days' time at the Princess Alexandra Hospital in Brisbane.
To say things moved pretty fast was an understatement.
Within 48 hours of meeting the surgeon, he and his team told me that my future was not looking good. They told me that scans showed me that I had developed stage 2/3 oesophageal cancer. It was effectively a death sentence, with only a 3 per cent chance of survival at that time.
They gave me a maximum of 15 months to live, or consent to a trial treatment they had in mind — but the trial was unproven.
The trial involved experimental surgery that had less than 5 per cent chance of success, maybe less. It was also an extremely risky procedure which few people had survived. And if I did survive, I was told I would only live for five years.
The real shock to me came when the doctors told me there were a limited amount of people who could participate in this trial treatment.
Because time was running out, they gave me one hour to decide. I agreed on the spot.
Bruce was one of the few selected to experimental surgery for cancer patients. Source: SBS
I took a chance and it paid off
The radical surgery to completely rid my body of my cancerous tumours involved the complete removal of my oesophagus and re-arranging my digestive system so that my stomach was pulled to the back of my throat.
The surgery was a 9-hour marathon, it took two teams of medical professionals and the intensity of the ordeal was known to be only one step down from a heart transplant.
It was a medical success and soon I made a complete, cancer-free recovery.
My family support, particularly my wife, contributed to my rapid recovery. The incredible and skilful surgical team and the medical resources allowed me to live on.
Had I not decided to move to Noosa, I would not have met my friend Rick who just happened to know the surgeon.
It was a fateful decision I made in 2000, one I have never regretted.
And for more stories head to – a new podcast series from SBS, hosted by Kumi Taguchi. From sex and relationships to health, wealth, and grief Insightful offers deeper dives into the lives and first person stories of former guests from the acclaimed TV show, Insight.
