Sir Chris Hoy has ‘hope’ he could live beyond the cancer diagnosis given to him by his doctors.
The six-time Olympic cycling champion revealed back in October he had received a stage 4 prostate cancer diagnosis whereby he had been told he had between two and four years left to live.
The 48-year-old has now written a memoir detailing his extraordinary life, All That Matters, which was released on November 7.
Hoy appeared on Virgin Radio alongside his good friend Chris Evans to talk to the presenter about the book and the experiences of the last year.
Despite being handed the terminal diagnosis, the retired cyclist insisted he was remaining optimistic about the future.
“Well the plan is, right now, keep doing what I’m doing in terms of treatment because it’s working,” he said. “Touch wood – the diagnosis was two to four years, but actually if you look beyond that it can be many years.
“There’s people out there that are still around who’ve been in the similar situation for 20 years. So you know there’s hope.
“There is hope and I’m very lucky that there is treatment for me. But also you don’t know it could be less than that. So that is the target you know – crack on for many years, ideally.”
As for now, the Team GB icon insists he continues to get fitter by the day.
“I was away in Greece last week for half term,” Hoy revealed.
“I was riding over these mountains out there. I’m as fit as I’ve been in the last 12 months by a long way right now and even in the gym getting stronger. “
Hoy also went on to explain that he wanted to use his platform to spread a number of important messages as far and wide as he can for the benefit of so many others.
Hoy won gold in the team sprint and the keirin at London 2012[/caption]
“Within that time I want to change the perception of what stage 4 can look like,” he said. “For a lot of people, they don’t have the luxury that I have and that time is much, much less.
“But for those that are in a similar situation, there’s a lot of life left to live. And within that time I want to first of all get more men to their GPs asking for PSA (prostate-specific antigen) tests.
“Go and ask for a PSA test. It’s a blood test – get it done. Peace of mind, it’s done.”
Hoy added that since his announcement and his pleas to other men to have a PSA test, the results had been excellent to see.
He stated that online inquiries about prostate checks had rose by around 700 per cent as he encouraged everyone to get checked as early as possible to give themselves the best chance of successful treatment if necessary.
Furthermore, in the wake of Hoy’s revelations, the NHS revealed they would be reviewing their guidance around prostate cancer testing.
They are qualities that he is relying upon as he faces his toughest challenge – and is hoping to inspire many others[/caption]
With men over 50 currently able to request a test, the Health Secretary will now look into lowering the age for screening.
Hoy had a history of the illness in his family, with his grandfather and father both having had prostate cancer.
He has previously spoken about the chemotherapy he has had to date, but he told Evans that he was not planning to give up on the possibility that future treatments could change his prognosis.
“Finding hope, I think, is the biggest thing,” he said. “I’m not delusional. I’m not thinking there’s going to be a miracle cure. But science, medical science is incredible.
“And the rate at which new developments are coming out, you know, if you can hold fast, if you can hang on, the hope is something else pops up, a new treatment, a new medicine, a new drug, which will help you go for another few more years, and so on and so on.”
And in a coincidence which brought a smile to the face of his Virgin Radio pal, Hoy went on to speak about one doctor with a familiar name indeed whose treatments he is hoping to undergo soon.
More so, Hoy also explained how he had found out about the professor from yet another familiar name to many.
“So I find out about Professor Chris Evans through Andy Taylor from Duran Duran,” he explained. “He had the same diagnosis as me a few years ago. And he was basically in end of life care and find out about this guy, Professor Chris Evans and the work that he was doing.
“And one of the medications that he’s on now, I think he was basically asymptomatic, they’ve managed to bring him back from the brink. And he has, you know, a few years.
“So I read this and it was right when I was diagnosed. And I was right in this pit of despair. You’re spiralling, you’re just trying to grab on to anything to try and sort of steady yourself.
“And I read this article…and it was basically exactly the same situation, prostate stage four, into the bones. And he was a few years ahead of me.
“So he had this new treatment. And I thought, well, if we can try and find either contact for Andy Taylor or for Professor Chris Evans. And we did that. And Andy, he said, look, call me anytime. We had a chat – so positive. You can hear other people say you can do this. And there’s this out here and there’s that.
“But when you talk to somebody who’s in the same boat as you literally, but further down the line, and he can still be that positive – you think, well, he’s doing it, maybe I can do it too.
“And he introduced me to Chris Evans. And I’ve not been treated by him yet. But the point is that there are stages beyond where you are just now.
“Touch wood, I’ve responded well to the chemotherapy and the other medicine I’m on. And you do that as long as you can until it stops working. And then you have the next line of defence, and the next line of defence, and you hope that just keeps kicking the can down the road.”
From the moment he made his devastating announcement, what has stood out is Hoy’s remarkable attitude to facing his challenges with bravery.
It is not just his own diagnosis that his family have had to contend with, but also the news that his wife Sarra has received her own diagnosis for multiple sclerosis.
But Hoy and his wife have showed continual fortitude in the face of great adversity – and he admitted that he hoped his memoir could go some way towards helping other people to overcome difficulties in their own life.
“It’s a book for anybody going through a difficult time,” he explained. “But you can get through it. You have to be able to be quite tough for yourself in terms of saying, right, I’m going to actively choose not to embrace the negative thoughts. I’m going to actively not, I’m not going to let them creep in.
“They will, they will come, but you’ve got to push them away and focus on, focus on the here and the now. You don’t think too far ahead. You know, the future doesn’t exist yet. All we’ve got is the present.”
He went on: “The biggest thing that I’ve changed is not worrying and not focusing on stupid stuff, things that really were irrelevant and that might not happen. But you try to predict the future. You try and look ahead. You try and think, what’s going to happen?
“At the heart of your life, you know, have you got a family around you love? Are you taking care of these people? Are you living life to the fullest? It doesn’t mean that you have to go every single day and go and climb a mountain or do something huge or crazy. It’s the small things.
“I genuinely almost went away from this feeling of (doing) bucket-list, massive things to the opposite. Being at home, spending time with the kids, making a coffee, doing the barbecue, riding my bike, going out in the car on the racetrack, doing things that you love, small things. And yeah, I think it’s appreciating the here and the now.
“I’ve lived my life having goals, setting goals and having challenges and stepping stones towards those goals. And that’s great. You need things to motivate yourself.
“But sometimes you can be so focused on the goals and next week, next year, next 10 years, you forget to live in the here and the now.
“And that’s the biggest change in my life is that I’m better at living in the present, appreciating the present, not rushing through it as much and not thinking, oh, I just need to get through today. Oh, God, you know, enjoy the moment.”
To find out more about getting a PSA test, speak to your GP or see the NHS official guidance page for more information.
