During the latter period of Brian’s career, Brian took a more localised approach to his work, serving as a Yass Councillor. Brian’s usual values of honesty, integrity, and his give it all work attitude led to a very methodical, documented approach, with this work ethic evident in his old archives still in his home. Brian’s particular focus involved his usual big picture approach in Landscape, but also a more focused, community-based approach in Disability Services and Aged Care. Brian’s tenure was well received, with his community efforts earning him the title of Yass resident of the year, awarded to him in 2009. Brian served on Council for 13 years.
Click to read Part 1 by Griffin Palen
Unfortunately, in the summer of 2017, Brian would lose the love of his life. On June 27th, Susan would pass away at the age of 73, only a few months shy of her 74th. This would conclude her long battle with health issues, passing away at Calvary Hospital. Brian read her Eulogy at the funeral and memorialised Susan in their garden with a plaque and bench near her favourite rose bush.
Following only a year after, Brian faced his own significant health battle. Brian’s first brush with cancer would be prostate cancer, common in men over the age of 65 – about 1 in 9 men will experience prostate cancer, with those odds climbing as one gets older. Brian’s first bout was removed in the same year, but from 2018, Brian would be subject to numerous illnesses and cancers, beating them all in succession and demonstrating an ironclad will. The first of this 2018 saga would become noticed on the January 16th, where Brian asserts, he had food poisoning from scrambled eggs at a Melbourne cafe. Later that night, he would describe symptoms of a severe stomachache and poisoning, including vomiting, nausea and fevers on both ends.
“I was a crook crook chook,” and Brian confessed he was “as cranky as a dozen cats on hot bricks!” As often stereotyped with older men, Brian was adamant that it would pass with no necessary medical intervention, only painkiller medications were given.
Fortunately, this thinking was not shared by his housekeeper and longtime friend, Geoff Lewis, who on the night of the 23rd observed Brian at his most ill, with Brian “saying Hail Marys and Glory be to the father” feeling near death. Geoff felt that enough was enough and called for an ambulance to Yass Hospital. The source of his illness was identified as Bovis Sepsis Septicemia, a particularly nasty bacterial infection.
After a four-day antibiotics treatment, drip-fed every few hours to effectively keep him alive, it was concluded further treatment was needed. He was transported to the Infectious Disease Unit in Canberra on the 29th, a place that imparted a gloomy atmosphere on Brian;
“If you want to go somewhere to get scared, the infectious disease unit will scare you.”
The Sepsis saga drew its curtain on the March 15th, but his health battles were hardly over.Brian was contacted about a lump that had been found in his right breast during hospital tests. It was concluded only the next day after a hasty mammogram that Brian had malignant breast cancer. Brian was briefed on the options, and is typical with cancer options, Brian had just two; remove the cancer and keep the breast tissue, opening the door for potential cancerous cell returns, or the removal of the whole breast tissue, leaving him potentially without the use of various muscles but a higher chance of ridding cancer.
“I beat that bloody sepsis and I can beat this” was Brian’s thinking at the time. Brian made his choice, and the latter was chosen, with the operation scheduled for April 20th. Fortunately for Brian, lacking mobility was a minor issue, with temporary limited use of the right arm rather than the potential atrophying muscles. The operation was quite the success, as the pain was minor, and no chemotherapy was needed, a treatment that can often cause great illness and pain. Brian happily left the hospital on April 23rd, with his ordeal attracting the attention of various cancer foundations such as ACT Breast Cancer Nurses and the McGrath Foundation.
However, a former trouble reared again. A colonoscopy, revealing what was almost a return of his 2010 illness. Instead, however, this time the lump would reveal itself to be a polyp, located near the bowel, rather than a tumour or cancer cell. While this isn’t nearly as bad as the previous two illnesses, the catch was that due to Brian’s recent surgeries, a waiting/healing period was required before he could re-enter surgery in June. Brian would remain clear for the remainder of the year, although his battles with cancer and health problems persist, with most recently in 2020 being diagnosed with lung cancer. In March and then again on August 17th scans showed signs of the cancer, and Radiation Oncology began in October. Brian will have to wait until January 2021 for his results to be finalised.
Brian confesses to having been a frustrated journalist all his life and has documented his battle with cancer from the perspective of ‘A Country Bloke V Breast Cancer’. The fourth edition is fresh off the local print press in Yass and offers a survival guide of what to expect during treatment and recovery for other men now facing their own fight with cancer.
A ‘Country Bloke V Breast Cancer’ is available free through Calvary Hospital and by request to BOOKDIST PO Box 362, Yass NSW 2582 or by emailing eejoconn@bigpond.net.au and listing a name and mail delivery address.
by Griffin Palen
