Despite battling cancer and going through a “hellish” few years, Ronnie Smith said the challenges and losses suffered have only encouraged him to enjoy life more.
Known as being a bit of prankster amongst friends, Mr Smith has said staying positive and talking about his cancer journey was how he coped.
Mr Smith was in the middle of booking tickets to Malta for his 60th birthday when he found a lump in his neck.
After going to the doctor in November in 2018, Mr Smith got the phone call confirming his fears a few weeks later.
He said: “It was quite sad because my son-in-law’s father passed away with cancer and we were going to the funeral on the Thursday and they phoned me the night before to confirm I had cancer as well.
“Although I was expecting it, it was still a body blow because you always hope at the end of the day that they’re going to phone and say it’s something else. But we just had to take it on the chin and get on with it.”
Grateful for support from loved ones
Malta birthday plans were cancelled and treatment for the cancer of the neck and throat took over.
Starting treatment in February in 2019, the 63-year-old had six weeks of radiotherapy and two bouts of chemotherapy.
“It knocked the stuffing out me,” he added. “I lost about 25% of my body weight.
“Because you can’t eat, you lose all taste in your mouth and I ended up getting a tube up my nose and getting fed into my stomach for two, three months.
“Slowly but surely we got there but my family and some of my friends, without them I wouldn’t have got through it.”
He said the staff at Friends of Anchor had been brilliant throughout his treatment as well.
“When you go up to the hospital they put you at ease, they’re so good with you,” he said. “They don’t go soft on you to be honest. They try and get you to get off your backside basically and get going but it’s the best way.”
When he was getting treatment, Mr Smith said seeing so many young people struggling changed his view on his own situation.
He added: “When you’re in the wards there are a lot of people getting treated. I’m at least 60 years old I’ve had a bit of a life, but you see young girls with no hair and it kind of puts life into perspective. I’m not so unfortunate after all.”
‘A hellish three years’
Following the treatment, Mr Smith was off work for 11 months to allow for recovery and also took part in a clinical trial after it was suggested by his oncologist.
Throughout treatment he said he had one important goal: “My main concern, well obviously I was concerned about my health, but my daughter was getting married in July and that was my goal to be fit to walk her up the aisle.
“I managed to do it. So that was the main thing.”
In August 2019 he was declared cancer free which was a “great relief”. However, it was the months that followed that brought another kind of loss.
“I just got back to work and then the pandemic struck. I was classed as vulnerable and had to self-isolate at home. It was a hellish three years because I lost my dad to Covid in April 2020.
“My dad had dementia and he was in a care home and that was one thing with the cancer I was relieved that he couldn’t understand what I was going through.
“I actually lost my older brother Bob to cancer as well the following year. He was diagnosed in March, and he died in July cause he had lung cancer and they got it too late. It was just one of these things, it was two body blows because you’re losing a parent and a brother.”
Mr Smith’s brother Bob was one of the family members that had supported him through his own hospital treatment, not knowing at the time that he also had the deadly disease.
Trying to live to the full
After being dealt these losses, Mr Smith still tried to remain positive: “It puts life into perspective. You appreciate every day because you never know what’s around the corner.
“That’s my attitude to life now anyway. You’ve been on the dark side and now with what I’ve been through, I’ve got a grandson and things like that. Life couldn’t be better now.”
“The good news is the following year we got the birth of my grandson so he was born on March 7 last year and that’s just been the icing on the cake for me. It gives you something to go on.
“We had a double celebration that day because, a lot of the guys in Brave won’t thank me for this, but my beloved Rangers won the Scottish Premiership League title in the same day so it was kind of a hectic night that night.
“He’s the apple of everybody’s eye, he’s the main man now. Things like that just get you through after all your treatment and what you go through it gives you a light at the end of the tunnel.”
While he is now cancer free, the storeman said it has been a long recovery process. He said: “I was fine going back to work, I still struggle even today. I still get fatigue and that cause once you’ve have chemotherapy and radiotherapy your body is never the same. You’ve just got to try and live life as full as you can.”
Encourage others to face it head on
After leaving the lump in his neck for months, Mr Smith urged anyone who suspected something to take action.
He said: “If you’ve got any suspicions get yourself checked out and be positive. I never felt sorry for myself and I was never scared to speak about it.
“It’s not only yourself you’ve got to think about. You’ve got to think about your wife, your daughter and your other family members. You have to think of them as well because they go through a lot of anguish.
“My message to anybody would be not to be scared to talk about it and be brave and get it out in the open and you can face it head on.
“You’ve just to try and stay as positive as you can.”
Mr Smith will be joining a group of 23 other models in May at the Beach Ballroom for Brave.
Originally signing up in 2020, he said he applied after being encouraged by his wife and daughter to take part.
Mr Smith added: “It was to put something back after all the help I received from them as well so you can raise a bit of money for them.
“It’s been a long wait. I think it’s been a couple of years waiting for it but it will be worth the wait on the night. It’s a bit nerve-racking but there’s 24 of you and we’re all sharing the same thing so it will be good on the night I’m sure.”
Tickets for Brave are on sale now, visit the Friends of Anchor website to join the waiting list.
