Thursday, 3 March 2016

SF author Pat Cadigan kicks cancer in the backside

It's been a gruelling couple of years for SFF writers, as we've lost a whole series of great writers to a myriad number of health complaints. So it's fantastic to report some good news.



SF and cyberpunk author Pat Cadigan was fighting a relapse with cancer which she had been told was terminal. To the surprise of her doctors, the medication she took worked far better than they hoped. The cancer has been reduced in size and strength by 97%. Our best wishes and congratulations to Pat!
I would like to be more profound but at the moment, I’m just kinda dazed. Six months ago, I was terminal, at least as far as anyone knew. Today I’m no longer dying of cancer, I’m living with my technicolor Doc Martens boot on its neck.

You know, I don’t think that will ever get old.

1 comment:

Pat Cadigan said...

I am charmed and delighted to find this post here. I'm only going to note for the sake of accuracy that my doctors have stopped short of saying they're hoping for a complete recovery. Women don't, as a general rule, recover from recurrent uterine cancer but it is sometimes possible to live with it well beyond the average, which is two years from onset of recurrence. My doctors haven't told me in so many words I'm going to do this. On the other hand, when they stop telling you what the life-expectancy is, it means you can infer that your life span is as open-ended as anyone's, including people without cancer.

It may seem a bit nitpicky to point this out but oncologists have to be careful not to promise good things. Cancer's a bastard and a loose cannon and there are no guarantees. But while things are good, you go with it and hope for the best.