In October 2019, Tim Egan, then aged 66, began to experience a persistent cough. “I was away with my wife. We were down in Dingle for the weekend, and I had a sore throat and a cough. The sore throat cleared but I couldn’t shake the cough. It just wouldn’t go away. My wife Geraldine was pushing me and said ‘you need to get that checked out’. So over Christmas 2019, it was the 27th of December, I went to see my GP and he referred me on for further tests. One by one I had the tests, a chest x-ray, a bronchoscopy and then a CT-scan. By the March, I was referred to a lung a specialist and that was kind of the first time I began to worry something more serious was wrong.”

“This was the very early stages of Covid-19 and we were very careful. I got referred to the Beacon on the 24th of March for a PET scan and then in May they done more bloods. They knew there was something in my lung but they couldn’t find it. Then on the 2nd of June, they done a lung biopsy and I was told they had found the 2cm tumour. It was really hard to believe that my little cough that wouldn’t go away was lung cancer.”

“I was told there and then I needed surgery, and even though they were concerned due to my age, because I was healthy and active, they wanted to proceed with the surgery. At that time, if you remember during Covid, the state had taken over private hospital capacity, so I was sent to the Blackrock Clinic in Dublin on the 10th of June for my surgery. I was kept in for a period of recovery and then discharged on the 18th of June. Having gone through so many tests over many months, it all happened so quickly then once they got to the bottom of what was wrong with me. I can’t thank the medical teams enough who looked after me, even now, they are still brilliant, and I know they’re there at the end of the phone if I need them.”

Tim’s diagnosis came as huge shock to him and his family. He and Geraldine have two children and five grandchildren. “Looking back, I was just so lucky. I am so grateful that my wife pushed me when she did to go and get myself checked out. The doctor told me if I didn’t have my surgery, I would be dead within months. After the surgery then, you are hoping and wondering if they got everything they needed to and after further tests, they were happy and they said I needed no more treatment. Post-surgery, it was difficult for me to recover. I wouldn’t go as far as saying I needed to learn to walk again, but it was pretty close to that. I couldn’t even dress myself in the mornings. My family and everybody around me were so helpful during that period.”

To assist with his recovery, Tim availed of an Irish Cancer Society free service delivered at St. James’s Hospital known as PERCS – Personalised Exercise Rehabilitation in Cancer Survivorship. “The PERCS classes were really helpful and it was a huge support to be able to meet other people going through cancer. It was from that class and seeing the benefit really of peer support that I decided to say yes when I was asked by the cancer survivorship team in UHL to speak to newly diagnosed patients. And I suppose, my message really to people is that lung cancer isn’t the death knell it once was. If we can catch lung cancer earlier, if people are more aware of the signs and symptoms, like my cough that wouldn’t go away, and if we go and get checked out, we give ourselves the best chance of coming out the other side of it.”

Tim is sharing his story and asking people to take action if they notice any signs or symptoms of lung cancer. “I think we need to be aware that anybody can get lung cancer. I did smoke, but I hadn’t smoked in nearly 30 years. I was healthy, I was active and yet, this little cough I had, that was lung cancer. I would really encourage people to be on the look out for the signs and symptoms and speak to your doctor as soon as you can. I have my wife to thank for pushing me, but we shouldn’t need to be pushed, especially men. We should just do it ourselves. I am concerned however, that GPs increasingly aren’t seeing their patients over the age of 70. Everything is done over the phone and I think for those who are a bit older, you must insist on going in to see your doctor if you feel something isn’t right.”

Reflecting on his cancer experience, Tim says he feels fortunate to be alive. “I have lost a brother and two sisters to cancer, my father died of cancer and now I have survived cancer. Out of five of us siblings, only one of us hasn’t had cancer yet, and I say yet, because we joke with her that she must be next! I think it is amazing these days how you can survive cancer now and lung cancer in particular. I had my surgery and now I go for my check ups, and that’s it. All because we caught it early. I feel very lucky to still be here and want people to know there is life after cancer.”