In fine fettle Wilko Johnson announced that he had beaten cancer while accepting an award at yesterday's Q Awards.
Music-News.com was on hand at the Grosvenor Hotel, Park Lane, London to hear the emotional, heartfelt speech which ended in a standing ovation.
In the terrible realm of cancer diagnosis, hearing that you have the disease in your pancreas is one of the very worst prognosis. Especially with exocrine pancreatic cancer, the five year survival rate ranges from 1 to 14%.
That's why the news was so sad when former Dr. Feelgood bassist Wilko Johnson announced he was suffering for the disease in 2012. Given ten months to live, he prepared for the end, playing a farewell tour and recording a final album, Going Home, with Roger Daltrey of the Who.
Late last year, doctors got in touch with Johnson, surprised that he was still active. Further investigation found that he had a rare form of tumor, one that might actually be able to be removed. In April, Johnson underwent an eleven-hour operation and, has now revealed he is cancer free.
Wilko also said he was still recovering from the surgery and was learning how to live without a number of organs that were removed in the operation including his pancreas, spleen, part of his stomach and small and large intestines.
Still, the future looks bright if Johnson can just get his mind around the fact that he is not about to die. "It's so weird and so strange that it's kind of hard to come to terms with it in my mind. Now, I'm spending my time gradually coming to terms with the idea that my death is not imminent, that I am going to live on."
