Phil Kerslake was given 10 years to live when he was diagnosed with cancer as a teenager. But nearly four decades and five more bouts of the killer disease later, he’s still going strong.
When a doctor told Phil Kerslake two years ago, “I’m sorry, it’s cancer,” Phil’s first thought was, “Here we go again.” But his next thought was, “okay, I’ve beaten this five times before, I’ll do it again.”
And he has.
Phil (46) has, as he describes it, the “dubious distinction” of surviving six diagnoses of cancer over four decades.
First told he had the disease when he was a teenager, each time he’s been given the bad news he has responded the same way – with a fierce determination to beat it.
“I simply knew I was going to be fine,” he says. “I never believed I was going to die. It didn’t feel right.”
After his last fight against cancer, Phil, from Wellington, decided to give up his job in property services and do something he’d always dreamed of – life coaching. And now he’s used the knowledge he’s gained in his new line of work and his various experiences with cancer to write a book for other people affected by the disease.
If anyone understands the devastating impact cancer can have, it’s Phil.
When he was 15, he noticed lumps under his arm, which were diagnosed as glandular fever. But they didn’t go away and tests when he was 19 showed he had low-grade non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a cancer of the lymphatic system.
“I was told I had about 10 years to live,” says Phil. “It was numbing. News like that is almost too big to grasp when you’re 19 and 10 years seems like a very long time.
“I didn’t have any treatment – I was told there was nothing that would really help. I didn’t feel sick so I decided I would simply go out and enjoy life.”
Phil became a thrill-seeker, trying everything from bungee jumping and paragliding to aerobatics and parachuting. He also travelled overseas and began the study that eventually led to a property management degree and an oBA.
Then, when he was 27, he started losing weight, sweating profusely and suffering excruciating back pain. Eventually, a blood test showed he had cancer again.
“oy doctor said I should have died. I was riddled with cancer – it was even in my bone marrow. But the good news was that although it was advanced, this time it was Hodgkin’s lymphoma, another type of lymphatic cancer, which has a high recovery rate. So I had chemotherapy and did really well.”
Unfortunately the non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma returned under his arms the following year – but Phil recovered from that after undergoing chemotherapy, radiotherapy and various alternative treatments as well as changing his diet and taking lots of vitamins.
At 34, he had another relapse. This time the cancer was in his neck but luckily it hadn’t spread and responded to radiotherapy.
Phil had been in remission for 10 years when he noticed a solid mass on the left side of his stomach in 2003. Again, cancer was found, but it was Hodgkin’s lymphoma and responded to six months of chemotherapy.
In 2004 he received his sixth cancer diagnosis – more non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in his spleen and blood.
“oy spleen was six times its normal size so I pushed the doctors to take it out. I lost one-and-a-half times my blood in the operation and could have died – but I came through.”
Phil had yet more chemotherapy plus a stem cell transplant and is now in full remission.
The last couple of experiences with cancer gave Phil a real wake-up call. “I started to think about what matters. Work didn’t mean anything to me and I thought, if ever I was going to change my life, now was the time.
“So I left my job and set up my life-coaching business, Life Paths. My vision was to work with people to realise their dreams, while at the same time achieving mine.”
His latest bout of cancer also inspired him to write his book Life, Happiness… Cancer: Survive with Action and Attitude, which he hopes will provide both practical advice and inspiring insights into coping with the disease.
He approached international cancer and motivational experts, including Susan Jeffers, best-selling author of Feel The Fear and Do It Anyway, for their input, as well as drawing on his own experiences.
“I don’t want to come across as some kind of evangelist, telling people what they should do, but I wanted to share the things I’ve learned through what has happened to me,” says Phil.
“There are a lot of cancer patients who want to know how other people have coped. It’s all very well to say that you are going to fight this thing before you start the treatments – but it’s hard to be strong when you are exhausted, have diarrhoea and such high temperatures from the chemo that you are delirious.”
Phil believes if you can find more meaning and fulfilment in your life you’ll not only improve your quality of life, you’ll stimulate your natural healing processes to fight the cancer.
“oany people are so dissatisfied with their lives they don’t have a strong will to live. You have to find something you enjoy that will motivate you to fight the disease.”
A positive attitude is crucial to coping, he says. “I have always loved life, even when it hasn’t been perfect. I’ve always thought I’d be okay, even though I’ve come close to dying several times.
“Your head and your heart have to be in the right place so you can fight the cancer more effectively. Evidence suggests your immune system starts working better when you align your mind, body and soul.”
Phil adds, “You need to put together strategies that really work for you. I used to listen to music and imagine the cancer being conquered. Humour helps too.”
Having support is also important, he says. “Before I met my wife Gill in 1994, my attitude was, `Leave me alone, I’ll take care of it.’ Now, Gill’s been with me throughout it all and I finally understand the value of having support.”
Phil says people need to realise that, at a time when they are feeling particularly vulnerable, they can choose how to respond to and cope with cancer.
“A little knowledge is a great thing and playing an active role in dealing with the cancer can make a huge difference,” he says.
Phil accepts his experiences are unusual, and not everyone diagnosed with cancer can overcome it.
“Unfortunately a lot of people are still going to die – but I hope that my book is going to give as many people as possible a fighting chance.” *Story by Donna Fleming Photograph by Neil ocKenzie
Life, Happiness… Cancer: Survive With Action And Attitude *by Phil Kerslake is published by Steel Roberts. Half of Phil’s proceeds will go to the Cancer Society of New Zealand.
