SWINDON CANCER APPEAL: John Boast beat the odds when he survived a nine-hour operation to remove both his cancerous kidneys - only to be told he was still dying of the disease.

Now the former Swindon policeman relies on dialysis three times a week just to stay alive, and takes daily doses of medication to ease the pain caused by cancer.

The 62-year-old knows it's not a long-term solution but he says he is content to live for the day.

John, from Purton, said: "I don't resent dialysis. I am totally dependent on it and I know that without it I'd be dead.

"I was devastated when I realised I'd be on it for the rest of my life, but I now regard it as my work, and I go in to hospital three times a week to get the job done.

"It's a case of living for every other day."

John, who worked as a bailiff and a commercial finance investigator after retiring from the police force in 1984, first felt pains in his back last May when he was working as a delivery driver for Honda.

"At first I thought I had just strained my back or had been doing too much driving and wasn't that concerned," he said. "I hadn't been to the doctor for seven years so when I went I was given a full MoT.

"But a few weeks later I started urinating blood and being sick, and that's when I was sent to Princess Margaret Hospital.

"I went through the scanner and they found I had cancer in both kidneys."

By a strange twist of fate, the equipment that detected his cancer was known as the Richard Webb scanner, named after one of John's former colleagues in the police force.

John said: "Richard was suffering from a brain tumour so the police raised money to buy a new scanner. Sadly, he died in the late 1980s.

"It was strange that I helped provide the very scanner that found my cancer.

"I felt shattered when I was told I had cancer but the hospital put me in touch with Macmillan nurse Vanessa Davey (whose face is featured in our logo) very quickly.

"She was caring, reassuring and helped put my mind at rest.

"I knew that the operation to remove both the kidneys was my only chance of living. Even then I was given a 25 per cent chance of surviving the operation, so that in itself was a risk.

"If I didn't have the operation I was told I'd be dead within two weeks.

"I am normally a strong person but at that point I was completely traumatised. All sorts of things come to mind when you're told something like that and you really appreciate and value life."

John also learned that the disease had started to spread up his main artery towards his heart.

"Surgeons removed the bad artery and replaced it with some sort of tube," John said. "It was the worst bit of the whole lot. I have never asked them what they did. I don't want to know."

By August John had started to suffer high blood pressure and he was readmitted to Oxford's Churchill Hospital for further scans.

And they showed the devastating fact that the cancer had spread to John's right hip, his 11th vertebrae and his lung.

John was told his condition was inoperable.

Now seven months on, the father of five remains philosophical about his situation.

"I'm lucky to be alive," he said. "My drugs were changed a few weeks ago as they were affecting my legs and making them feel wobbly when I walked. The new ones are better and I am able to walk around again.

"Only the cancer in the spine gives me pain as it feels like severe backache.

"And I feel very sick after dialysis but the following day I'm not so bad.

"I've given it my best shot and never once thought about giving up the fight. It's like playing a waiting game but I've got too much to live for."

John's face lights up at the thought of his wife of 39 years Carol, 59, and children Ade, 38, Paula, 36, Tim, 34, Matt, 31, and Dan, 27. The couple have eight grandchildren and one more due in July.

He said: "I have been helped tremendously by my family. We have always spent a lot of time together and I make sure we see each other every week.

"I look forward to the visits from Macmillan nurse Judy Rowland. She has helped me sort out my financial matters.

"I've worked all my life and have never had reason to go to the DHSS. So suddenly when illness comes and stares you in the face you don't have a clue how to claim benefits.

"Judy has done all that for me and sorts out my tablets. It's nice to be able to have a chat with her, whether it's about everyday things or the cancer itself.

"I have always indicated to the doctors and Macmillan nurses that I don't want to know when I'll get worse," John said.

"I know it's terminal and I will know when it's going to take its action. Carol knows me better than I know myself so I'm sure she'll be able to tell before I can."

John's next scan is on April 3 at Swindon's Great Western Hospital.

He said: "I'm not worried about what the scan might show. The assurances from the nurses have taken away the initial fear. I'm not frightened. So be it if there's cancer elsewhere in my body. There's nothing I can do about it.

"I have to face the reality of the situation at the end of the day."

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