Stand-up comedian Rhod Gilbert hopes 2023 will be filled with "fun" after he opened up about his recovery from cancer. In July, he had to postpone his Book of John show and turn it into a DVD tour due to his struggle with neck and throat pain. It was later revealed he was receiving treatment at Velindre Cancer Hospital Centre in Cardiff.
The 53-year-old from Carmarthen spoke to Eleri Sion on BBC Radio Wales on Friday, December 9, and shared how he recorded the DVD show during his performance in Cardiff's Millennium Centre in April. The BBC reports that he was struggling with his throat "straight after that."
He said: "I had a terribly sore throat, tightness through my neck. I was having to cancel shows because I couldn't breathe.
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"I was having all sorts of problems and we couldn't get to the bottom of it."
He added that his symptoms became worse when he was in Cuba, while he was fundraising for Velindre. He said: "In May, I noticed lumps started popping up in places they shouldn't be. It turns out I've got Stage 4 cancer. I also caught Covid on that walk as well. I came home with cancer and Covid from a Velindre fundraising trek... the irony of that! I went as a Velindre patron and came home as a patient."
A stand-up comedy tour was held in aid of Velindre - after Rhod Gilbert revealed his illness - which saw dozens of comedy fundraising nights being held and supported by the country’s best-known and loved entertainers. You can read more about that here.
The comedian previously raised money for Velindre by climbing Kilimanjaro in 2013 and "can't imagine there's a better place in the world to be treated". He added: "The care I'm having is beyond words." He told the BBC he'd undergone chemotherapy, radiotherapy and surgery but did not know whether "it has worked".
He added: "I'm feeling happy, positive and optimistic. I'm feeling good and feel like I'm recovering day-by-day." However, he did say there might be more to come. He said: "Some days I'm well enough to do a bit of writing and I've got a feeling when I've got through all this there'll be a show in it.
"The things people say when they find out you've got cancer... people panic. There's a lot of humour in it. Hopefully I'm going to jot it all down and one day bring it to the stage."
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