Keyhole lung removal world’s first
GRATEFUL Raymond Page with surgeon Giuseppe Aresu
A 74-YEAR-OLD retired milkman was out of bed just hours after world-first keyhole lung removal surgery by a pioneering team of NHS experts.
The op was performed on Raymond Page who had been diagnosed with stage four lung cancer — the most lifethreatening form — after a scan found two tumours in his right lung.
But shortly after the two and-a-half
OLIVIA Newton-John says she is winning her third battle with breast cancer, thanks to medicinal cannabis.
The 71-year-old told how the herbal treatment has helped contain the stage four disease, which returned three years ago in her lower back.
Olivia looked fit and healthy as she appeared on the red carpet with Grease co-star John Travolta,
65, at the G’day USA gala in Beverly Hills on Saturday.
The actress and singer said: “My tumours are receding or they’re going away or they’re staying the same. On a stage four metastatic breast cancer that’s pretty amazing. I don’t see it as a battle. I am winning.”
Olivia is pushing for the wider use of cannabis as a medicine. She added: “For me the proof is in the pudding and I’m the pudding.
“If I hadn’t had the experience I’m having with cannabis I wouldn’t be able to talk about it.”
The mum-of-one’s Cancer &
Wellness Centre in her native Australia is launching trials of cannabis as a medicine. She has also lobbied the government there to approve its use.
She said in October: “I hope to be able to offer that treatment to everyone.” Olivia first beat cancer in 1992 then again in 2013. The cannabis she uses is grown by husband John Easterling at their Santa Barbara home in California. She claimed doctors were supportive of the treatment.
Olivia added: “It’s not a drug. It’s a herb and a plant.”
Niece Tottie Goldsmith joined her and John at the G’day USA gala, which promotes links between America and Australia.
Olivia, made a dame last year, is due to perform with singer John Farnham at the Fire Fight Australia bushfire charity concert in Sydney on February 16.
It will be her first time on stage since cancelling all tour plans after her most recent illness.
OLIVIA ON HER LATEST FIGHT WITH CANCER hour procedure, he was free of pain, walking and chatting to his wife Jo.
Mr Page, from Peterborough, said: “I intend to make the most of life.”
The surgery is being hailed as revolutionary with experts predicting it could pave the path to a new era in minimally invasive procedures.
For decades, surgeons have treated lung cancer patients by opening up
Tumours are now receding. It’s pretty amazing
the side of their chest with a cut that can be up to eight inches long. Such surgery can result in severe pain, which lasts for months.
The team at Royal Papworth Hospital, in Cambridge, which included consultant surgeon Giuseppe Aresu, was able to reach Mr Page’s lung through a two-inch cut between his abdominal muscles.