Philip Sella talks about cancer: “I had moments of weakness, I felt like a zombie”

First of all, how are you?

Things are fine. I went back to work because I wanted to go back and see a few people. I have some repercussions, little problems from fatigue. I had two gastric operations to remove tumors (prostate cancer and then lymph nodes, editor’s note), everything worked fine. But you have to react and react, you have to live. By meeting the people we live with at work, family and this does a lot of good. I’ve also been having neurological issues, seeing as a speech therapist for memory and organization, I’m a bit chaotic.

Is it important for you to publish the screening letter?

People I know called me when I started talking about the disease. I told them to go see the specialists. Important. I’ve gone a lot of time without any injuries. Even after my career, I kept talking, while having fun with friends. And then one day your PSA (prostate specific antigen, the main indicator of prostate cancer) is up and your head is upside down! I wondered what was going on… You ask yourself a lot of questions. But thanks to visits and exchanges with doctors, I learned to know and stay zen.

How did you experience the announcement of the disease?

You have to accept it when it happens. It is a bit difficult. At first, I had moments of weakness. I felt like a zombie, I wasn’t feeling well. “What the hell am I doing here,” I told my colleagues. I no longer have a sense of work. I had to respond. Important. I had two operations for the prostate and the lymph nodes in the lower abdomen that had to be removed. Today I have 33 radiotherapy sessions, so as not to risk and eliminate the micro cells that have returned. I have 5 sessions a week.

Is the neurological problem linked to cancer?

no. Cancer came later. We found a problem, neural tasks that weren’t there when I stopped my career. thus. But today everything is fine, I had a very introverted period, it was not me. Now I’m again the person I’ve always been. I have moments of tiredness due to cancer and treatment. It depends on the days but the doctors and caregivers follow me very well…

Do you think that the role of athletes is also to give testimony and convey messages about disease, for example?

It depends on the person I think. She did a lot of high-level sports, so people could tell that even for him, that could happen. I prefer to come, share, share and talk about it so that it benefits others. For those who are afraid to speak up, it is important to keep their heads up. Do not hide, this is life. I have exchanged with other people who have had this disease. It’s better, that means we’ll fight. There is medicine and reason too. I have a friend who had leukemia and he came out of it with a crazy mind. Besides, what you got is nothing. It is also played in the head. To beat sickness is to say to yourself, “I can be strong.”

Whatever happens, I have great faith in the medical community and say thank you to them in big letters and a heart from behind. They sometimes do an ungrateful job about illness, but there is always trust, a bond. Whether it’s with a nurse, caregiver, or teacher…it doesn’t matter. It allows me to relax because I am passionate. Stress does not help the process for example.

What is the message you want to convey?

Life is beautiful. Everything I’ve been through since I was little, sometimes it’s hard, sometimes we scream at it, but there are also good times. My rugby life has gone beyond what I wished for. There is for example the 1987 World Cup. The day after the final, the New Zealanders came to see us, to serve us the meal. They were world champions, they could party together and they came to spend two hours with us. Encourage. We will meet some of them at the World Cup in France in 2023. I will meet David Kirk, captain of the first World Cup. We’ll be talking about rugby and serving in the Rugby Legacy Cup with school teams from all over the world. It is great to meet old people and make a connection with young people.