Welsh comedian Rhod Gilbert candidly described his battle with cancer as ‘brutal’ after being diagnosed with throat, neck, tongue, and tonsil cancer in 2022.
Prof Mererid Evans, his doctor at the time, has since shed light on the challenging journey Gilbert endured, emphasizing his remarkable courage.
He, a head and neck specialist at Velindre Cancer Centre in Cardiff and a professor at Cardiff University’s cancer and genetics division, as well as the head of the Wales Cancer Research Centre, recounted the difficult period in her consulting room.
Gilbert’s decision to document his treatment journey brought her consulting room into the spotlight.
“Rhod wanted something positive to come out of his experience,” Prof Evans remarked.
“We talked about the treatment he’d be receiving and I think he felt it was an opportunity to highlight what it’s like going through cancer treatment,” she told.
The resulting Channel 4 program, “A Pain in the Neck for SU2C,” documented Gilbert’s journey from diagnosis through treatment and its aftermath. Prof Evans learned that the comedian’s treatment would be filmed just a few days before it commenced.
“I don’t think he knew before he started how impactful him recording his journey would be. I think it was something that he wanted to do for himself because this is what he does,” she added.
“And he felt he could turn something that was a very difficult experience into a positive.
“I think that that’s how he’s reflected on having done it, that it’s raised a lot of awareness and hopefully has helped people in a similar situation to him.”
Despite the presence of a film crew during their consultations, Prof Evans endeavored to maintain a sense of normalcy in her interactions with Gilbert.
Gilbert underwent a treatment regimen of radiotherapy and chemotherapy, which Prof Evans described as “particularly difficult” for head and neck cancer patients.
“When you have a tumour or cancer in the back of your throat, either in the tonsil or the back of the tongue or the roof of the mouth, when you try and treat that with radiotherapy, what effectively you are causing is big ulcers in the patient’s mouth and throat that get worse over a six-week period,” she added.
“The side effects are a dry mouth, lack of taste, ulcers that make swallowing very painful and difficult and sometimes requires feeding through a tube in the tummy as we saw [happen to him] in the documentary.
“Radiotherapy to the head and neck does cause some swelling and inflammation within the voicebox,” she explained.
“It’s not uncommon that people develop a hoarse voice during treatment, and that doesn’t always improve. So that was a real fear, and that was clearly a big one for someone who makes their living by using their voice.”
This sentiment was echoed by Gilbert in the program. One of his initial concerns was voiced as,
“I’m worried that the radiotherapy might seriously knacker my voice. I’m a stand-up, so this treatment could save my life, but kill my career.”
Fortunately, he received the all-clear eventually.
