BBC newsreader George Alagiah has told of how he has “learnt to live with the uncertainty” during his fight against cancer.
The 64-year-old was first diagnosed with an advanced form of bowel cancer that spread to his liver in 2014, but the disease returned in 2018 and has since spread to his lungs.
George is now undergoing intensive rounds of chemotherapy, which leaves him having a “shit week” of feeling “totally wiped out”.
However, he has told The Times (£) that he no longer worries about his illness.
“Just after the first diagnosis it was easy to get overwhelmed by dark thoughts in the early hours, but I’ve learnt to live with the uncertainty,” he said in a first-person piece for the paper.
“Do I worry? No point. Every night I lie in bed and ask myself, are you going to be around tomorrow? Yes, I am.
“That’s a nice thought to have as I’m falling asleep.”
George previously revealed how “doctors have never used the word ‘chronic’ or ‘cure’” about his cancer.
In another interview with The Times after he was told the cancer had spread to his lungs, he said: “They’ve never used the word ‘terminal’ either. I’ve always said to my oncologist, ‘Tell me when I need to sort my affairs out’, and he’s not told me that.”
News his cancer had spread came shortly after George had tested positive for Covid-19 in March.
Reflecting on his experience with the virus in his recent Times piece, George said originally doctors had thought his symptoms were a side effect of his cancer drugs.
He said: “The fact that I’m being treated for cancer means that I should have been shielding, but I also contracted Covid and beat it, so I’ve been able to carry on working in between my chemo sessions.
“The Covid was picked up by my cancer doctors and was so mild that we thought it was one of the usual fevers that you get when you’re on immunosuppressive drugs. It seems strange to say this, but I sort of ignored it.”