It’s an impossible question to answer.  But lung cancer is a nasty so and so where average life expectancy is 6-9 months from the point of diagnosis.

I first saw a doctor with my upper back pain in April 2016.  I was prescribed painkillers and sent packing.  I contacted BUPA with lower back pain in June 2016.  I was referred to a physiotherapist.  Both events were actually cancer destroying my verterbrae.  The scans didn’t start coming until September 2016 and the final diagnosis didn’t arrive until November 2016.  By that time I’d declined quite significantly.  Walking was painful.  Stairs were a one step at a time event.  Sitting down was painful.  Lying down was painful.  Sleeping was painful.

While I’ve had temporary relief from my current medication, it crossed my mind that if I’d been diagnosed back in the April I was already into that 6-9 month average survival time and been treated with nothing more than paracetamol and physiotherapy.  So how close was I to dying last year?