Tom Smith

Tom Smith: Former British and Irish Lions prop reveals stage four cancer diagnosis - http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/50395820

Awful news and I hope the fund raising events planned for during the 6Ns are well supported.

This is also a reminder to all not to ignore the symptoms. As someone who is recovering from a Stage 2 cancer I am so glad that as part of checking for Testicular Cancer I found the lump in my groin. Currently it is Movember and boy does my tache look silly, but then that is the point. We should not "man up" and ignore the symptoms. We should not be scared of investigating. Gentlemen fondle your nads. Ladies check your breasts. If you do not know how go online and find out. But do not, I repeat do not, leave it till it is too late.

Do not let Cancer win.

Truly awful news - I don't think you'd find anyone who would say a bad word about him. A true Lions legend loved by all the home nations for what he did on those tours. This plus Doddie Weir's fight is a lot to take.

Absolutely gutted for his wife and family.

Genuinely terrible. Really hard to read. Cancer is horrific.

Sorry to hear about your treatment as well LT. Worthy reminder.

Awful news.

Always so important to check. I buy a lot of Oddballs products and they offer a handy diagram to advise how to check too. Plus they're good products anyway.

All the best with your recovery LT.

Apologies LT I hadn't properly read your post - all the best with your own recovery.

Just saw about Tom Smith, awful news.

Best of luck in your own recovery LT.

As some of you know, bowel cancer is a subject of great significance to me as well and it was awful to hear the news about Tom Smith and even worse to see the interview with him. He is a brave man and will put a fight but you can clearly see what it has done to him already.

Wishing him and all cancer sufferers the best in their battles and hoping he can make a good recovery.

Sad news, I really hope he can recover from it.

And hope your recovery is going well LT, best wishes!

All the best LT. The awkwardness or embarrassment of checking these things is always worth it.

I had a tear in my eye reading about Tom Smith. I have a very good friend who is now in (manageable) paliative care for her cancer, and know just what an impact this awful disease can have on you.

I wish Tom (and London Tiger) all the very best for a full recovery.

Thanks for the well wishes guys. I was a tad emotional when writing the OP and actually used the wrong word. I should have said remission rather than recovery. So for me, for now, the cancer has been defeated.

For Tom Smith - well we all know the prognosis of Stage 4 Cancers. The full interview is available on BBC sounds - just do not listen while driving. I am not ashamed to say I cried. As you would expect he is facing this with a huge amount of dignity and determination. The fear, mainly around the impact on his family, is very apparent - but that just makes his tale all the braver. While there is no perfect outcome I do so hope that the best possible outcome is achieved for him and his family.

LondonTiger wrote:Thanks for the well wishes guys. I was a tad emotional when writing the OP and actually used the wrong word. I should have said remission rather than recovery. So for me, for now, the cancer has been defeated.

For Tom Smith - well we all know the prognosis of Stage 4 Cancers. The full interview is available on BBC sounds - just do not listen while driving. I am not ashamed to say I cried. As you would expect he is facing this with a huge amount of dignity and determination. The fear, mainly around the impact on his family, is very apparent - but that just makes his tale all the braver. While there is no perfect outcome I do so hope that the best possible outcome is achieved for him and his family.

You're a top.man LT.

Thanks for the recommendation LT. I will give it a listen tonight.

Sorry to hear about your problems or hopefully past problems LT. If people are a bit squeamish or reluctant to grope themselves,perhaps they should get their partner to do it, more fun and I certainly would be a lot more worried a about finding a lump on my wife than I would be on me. I would insist she go and get it checked out, I would assume it would be the same if it were the other way around.

Tom spent 8-9 years at Saints and is regarded as one of our All Time Greats, for a man of his relative diminutive size, he packed a lot of power and technique that had the bigger boys bent in two. My best wishes to him and his family, lets hope for a happy outcome in teh end.