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Alan Clarke Interview Part Four

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By The Drum Team, Editorial

February 10, 2010 | 6 min read

Today, Alan lists everything he's learned as a result of contracting throat cancer including that he is 'good in a crisis'.

What did I learn about myself and what has changed?...how much room have you got?

I've learned:

· That shit does happen...and not always to someone else...

· You truly never know what’s just around the corner

· That Critical Illness insurance is actually very good value (..if only I had taken it out....)

· That (unfortunately) I am not indispensible

· That I am good in a crisis

· That a positive attitude and clear goals are essential

· That the NHS is the best place in the world to be if you’re seriously ill

· That the fabric of the Glasgow Southern General is a disgrace and that the vast majority of the people who work there deserve so, so much better

· That radiotherapy is not to be treated lightly...and chemotherapy sucks

· That it was my fault I was fat...(I’ve lost 1/3rd of my body weight because my throat swelled so much during radiotherapy therapy that I haven’t been able to eat or drink for nine months)

· That I am a lucky, lucky man. I could very well have been dead by now and have left my wife and two kids behind (and many people who were diagnosed at the same time as me have died)

· That Google searches can raise more questions than they answer

· That what we do is most definitely not life and death

· That more people in our industry than I care to think of should go and swap places with a Junior Doctor in a busy hospital at 2.30 am on a Saturday night when they’re trying to save someone who’s been stabbed through the neck in a gang fight (I know that’s a cliché, it’s true)

· That I’ll be spectacularly hung over on the morning of 3rd March 2014. Not because the Commonwealth Games will shortly be in Glasgow but because I’ll be out of remission and, as far as the docs are concerned, cured of cancer

· That cancer isn’t a death sentence

What has changed?

· Lots of things, but nothing

· Lots of things about me – e.g. I’ve got some awesome scars, I can’t eat or drink for the time being, my relationships with family and friends have changed (I realised from their reactions that I’m quite important to quite a lot of people), I guess my tolerance levels are higher (..but still not that high..). I could go on about all that personal stuff you’ll have read from anyone that’s been through a major crisis, but none of that’s new

· Nothing - I was very well aware before I got ill that I am but an insignificant dot in a great big world and of course, things just carry on regardless

But I guess you’re more interested in what I’ve learned about work and how my work life has changed.

· To be honest I’m not sure there’s been much learning or changing there . I’m back doing the job I expected to be doing with few allowances made for my illness (which I insisted upon).

Perhaps it’s more that I’ve had confirmed what I already suspected

· That good Client: Agency relationships run deeper than just the work and the results it delivers

· That, when you do un to others as you would have done unto you, you’ll get what you deserve when you deserve it (go on, fathom that one out...what I mean is I’ve tried and [I hope] more often than not succeeded in being honest and straightforward and, when I was in trouble a hell of a lot of people I hadn’t seen or spoken to for many, many years got in touch)

· That the team at The Bridge is exceptional

· That our industry has way too many pretentious wankers of limited talent who perpetuate the stereotype which continues to mean our industry is treated with the disdain it deserves by many (most) of those in power in business with genuine power and influence.

This isn’t meant to make you feel ‘poor Alan’ but, for the record, the long term implications of my illness and treatment include:

· Partial deafness and continual Tinitus caused by chemotherapy

· Permanent numbness and lack of mobility on the left hand side of my face caused by the surgery and radiotherapy

· Scars

1. One that runs from my bottom lip to my Adam’s apple and from there to my ear

2. Another major scar on my right inner arm where they took an enormous amount of tissue to create the new back for my throat

3. An almost insignificant 8” scar in my abdomen

· Permanent nerve damage in my right hand – it feels like I have a large battery permanently attached which makes my fingers tingle

· The body of an athlete..until they sort out my feeding and drinking.

In tomorrow's final part of the interview, Clarke covers how his experience has changed his mentality on returning to work.

The Bridge is a member of the Marketing Industry Network.

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