Grim Reaper 186 Posted December 31, 2019 The Tom Smith thread. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
msc 18,477 Posted January 1, 2020 If you heard him slurring on TV a few weeks ago you'd think he had weeks left tbh, not months. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gcreptile 10,978 Posted January 1, 2020 Tumours everywhere, pretty sure hit. Is he famous enough though? Still, a great pick. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
msc 18,477 Posted January 1, 2020 2 minutes ago, gcreptile said: Tumours everywhere, pretty sure hit. Is he famous enough though? Still, a great pick. Captain of the Scottish rugby team at TWO World Cups, and pivotal in the Scottish side that won (!) the Six Nations (!) in the late 90s. I'd say he passes the fame level. And since he's on he has. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
YoungWillz 21,053 Posted January 1, 2020 Too ill to miss. And yet, he being Scottish will snub death and give a tackle to further years simply by being picked. 'mon. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Exu 250 Posted January 2, 2020 I seem to remember reading that there is a fund raising event to be held in his name in the early spring and there was conjecture around the time as to whether he would be alive when it takes place. A very sound pick. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Joey Russ 7,228 Posted January 14, 2020 12 minutes ago, Spade_Cooley said: Tom Smith took the Special Award at last night's Rugby Union Writers Club dinner, didn't attend and didn't make a video message accepting his award either... Cross posting here, which yeah, seems super grim... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gcreptile 10,978 Posted January 16, 2020 Telegraph article mostly behind the paywall: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/rugby-union/2020/01/16/former-lions-prop-tom-smith-fight-against-cancer-didnt-want/ Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
msc 18,477 Posted January 16, 2020 13 minutes ago, gcreptile said: Telegraph article mostly behind the paywall: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/rugby-union/2020/01/16/former-lions-prop-tom-smith-fight-against-cancer-didnt-want/ Quote Smith was not actually given the full horror story, although Zoe was. There was a 90 per cent blockage of the colon, the lymph nodes were inflamed and putting pressure on blood vessels. In short, there was widespread cancer, of colon, liver and even lesions on the brain. ... The brave face is not a front. It has become something of a necessity. Smith has forced himself to be as positive as he can be, to visualise at each and every point in his eight-hour sessions of chemotherapy, when drugs are coursing through his body, that each jab and each pill - he takes 40 a day - is playing its part in killing the cancer. “At the risk of sounding happy-clappy, you have to consider everything to help you fight this – mind over matter visualisation, which I never did as a player, diet, lifestyle, and, even cannabis-related treatments, whatever it takes,” says Smith. ... But here’s the twist. The situation is, of course, bleak. The last dose of chemo will be followed by more examinations. There might be surgery. And even then there might be bad news further down the road. The gist. Also he's lost 4 stone in 4 months as he struggles to eat anything now. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
roaming_comrade 471 Posted January 16, 2020 Ok how about we use normal units of measurement 1 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Phantom 2,533 Posted January 16, 2020 40 minutes ago, roaming_comrade said: Ok how about we use normal units of measurement They are. It's about 5.5 passerees. 1 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Perhaps 1,423 Posted February 8, 2020 Video of Tom Smith at a charity event yesterday. Surprisingly still able to travel and get around, so maybe not *as* near death’s door as we thought, for now. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sir Creep 7,070 Posted February 8, 2020 27 minutes ago, Perhaps said: Video of Tom Smith at a charity event yesterday. Surprisingly still able to travel and get around, so maybe not *as* near death’s door as we thought, for now. who ever said Tom Smith was’ near death’? I’ve always expected him to be a July death or thereabouts. If he’s walking around like that on Sir Creep’s birthday all y’all D40s going to have problems. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JR976evil 906 Posted February 8, 2020 34 minutes ago, Sir Creep said: who ever said Tom Smith was’ near death’? I’ve always expected him to be a July death or thereabouts. If he’s walking around like that on Sir Creep’s birthday all y’all D40s going to have problems. Are you distantly related to Bob Dole?? 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JosephWindham 1 Posted February 26, 2020 Why him? 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Spade_Cooley 9,533 Posted February 26, 2020 Because he has a shit tonne of cancer and the last interview he gave in 2019 sounded like a man who'd died two months ago and nobody remembered to tell him. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
maryportfuncity 10,647 Posted February 26, 2020 22 minutes ago, Spade_Cooley said: Because he has a shit tonne of cancer and the last interview he gave in 2019 sounded like a man who'd died two months ago and nobody remembered to tell him. Yeah, so either he's as ill as we think or he's suddenly decided to make a living as a Keith Richard tribute act! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
De mortuis nihil nisi bonu 2 Posted March 12, 2020 On 16/01/2020 at 22:58, roaming_comrade said: Ok how about we use normal units of measurement Its a perfectly normal unit, there are 8 stones to 1 quintal. 2 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gcreptile 10,978 Posted June 21, 2020 Tom Smith update mostly behind a paywall, still in chemo: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/scotland/former-scotland-prop-tom-smith-optimistic-scotland-stars-will-make-lions-squad-w6qc89xc2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Spade_Cooley 9,533 Posted June 21, 2020 Cutting all the egg-chasing chat out of it: Spoiler Tom Smith last week underwent his 16th round of chemotherapy since being diagnosed with stage four colorectal cancer last autumn. Each one is a brutal test of endurance, with Smith being attached to a pump for 46 hours as it delivers intravenous succour to his stricken cells. Twelve days later, the process starts again, in a hospital near Bordeaux to which Smith is now delivered by an ambulance taxi driver wearing full PPE. It’s fair to say that life has taken a few twists and turns since the 48-year-old set off from his home in south-west France last August, bound for Murrayfield and Scotland’s World Cup warm-up match against Les Bleus. It was on the journey from that game to his father-in-law’s house in London that Smith felt severe pain at the back of his ribs. His GP referred him to a specialist, who discovered a 90 per cent blockage of his colon, inflamed lymph nodes and lesions on his brain. “It got scary for a while,” says the 61-cap former Scotland loose-head. “I was in hospital for ten days at the start and it was my wife Zoe who was given the full picture. Normally, before starting chemo they run tests to see if your body has allergies to the medication. With me, the doctors said they couldn’t wait, we had to start right now or else it would be too late.” Unable to eat, Smith — who was never the biggest of men — lost 25 kilos in short order, but recently has felt well enough to get back on his bike and enjoy the onset of early summer in Lot-et-Garonne. He has also seen improvements in the results from a crucial examination, the carcinoembryonic antigen test (CEA) which measures antigen levels in the blood. “You do the chemo in blocks of six and then they run the tests. With this one, a normal score would be under three [nanograms per millilitre]. If you’re a real smoker, you might be nearer five, but anything above that is a problem and anything over 100, the cancer has spread. I was up at 800 to begin with, but progressively we’ve got it down, and it’s now under five. We’re trying to get it down to zero. “There is surgical stuff to consider, too, but the tumour is in quite a complicated place, wrapped around a blood vessel. The first priority was dealing with the cancer, then dealing with the tumour. We’ll wait and see what happens. With the circumstances of the coronavirus, it made it better not to even be thinking about surgery at the moment. “You quickly learn how much of a waiting game it is. You have to look at it as people look at arthritis, rather than thinking you’re going to get cured. It’s something that is going to take management over a longer period of time. You’ve got to adjust your mindset and not be going into every blood test thinking, ‘Is it gone? Is it over?’ Hopefully then you get a pleasant surprise. “Initially, the target is just being able to function, just to still be there, and then it’s about getting through the first chemo as you deal with things like getting a will drawn up and making sure you don’t leave a massive mess behind you. With my first chemo, I was in bed for ten days afterwards, then four days later I was back in for the second round. That bit has got better too.” 1 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
msc 18,477 Posted June 21, 2020 10 minutes ago, gcreptile said: Tom Smith update mostly behind a paywall, still in chemo: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/scotland/former-scotland-prop-tom-smith-optimistic-scotland-stars-will-make-lions-squad-w6qc89xc2 He's on his 16th chemo, he lost 25 pounds but can now cycle again and has got his CEA level down from 800 in January to 5 now. The primary tumour has wrapped around a blood vessel, which probably means he can't get it removed and as it's a fast malingerer, one day treatment will stop working and it'll be downhill quick. But to make it this far after how bad he sounded in December/January is pretty good going, and he's not a 2020 cert anymore. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Spade_Cooley 9,533 Posted July 7, 2020 We've not had any video footage of Tom for a while, so how about this from the end of last month? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
YoungWillz 21,053 Posted July 7, 2020 Bloody hell*, who else thought he was dead?! Phew! (*Ron Weasley) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
maryportfuncity 10,647 Posted July 7, 2020 32 minutes ago, YoungWillz said: Bloody hell*, who else thought he was dead?! Phew! (*Ron Weasley) Whaddya mean "phew"? He's DDP joker gold (and I'll declare a self-interest in that dept) 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
YoungWillz 21,053 Posted July 7, 2020 1 minute ago, maryportfuncity said: Whaddya mean "phew"? He's DDP joker gold (and I'll declare a self-interest in that dept) My self-interest is him not dying. Because that Poker Tourney leaderboard will take a hammering! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
