They gave me 6 months to live – then told me I was lucky

It seemed my time was up and nothing could make it better (Picture: George Jerjian)

‘I’m sorry to say, in 98% of cases, it means you are looking at possibly six months of life.’

Sitting in the doctor’s office in January 2007, my oncologist turned to me, test results in his hand, and uttered words I never thought I’d hear.

‘You have a bone tumour sitting on your right pelvis,’ he said, adding that these are invariably malignant, secondary cancers, which means the cancer had likely already spread around my whole body.

I was 52.

My wife, Talyn, turned to me, tear...