I'm going to go through chemo for the fifth time in ten years

Jeff Hurst, who lives in Loanhead, has endured at least 18 months of chemotherapy over the last eight years.

The 62-year-old was first diagnosed with bowel cancer in January 2003 at the age of 55. Just six weeks later he underwent an operation to remove the tumour on his bowel, which was followed by chemotherapy, but was warned that the cancer may have spread.

"It was the news I didn't want to hear," said Jeff, who also had two operations in the 1980s to remove polyps on his bowel.

He lost his father Eric to bowel cancer in 1985 at the age of 64, and said there was a family history of cancer.

Three years after Jeff's initial diagnosis, in June 2006, a regular blood test showed that the cancer had spread to his lung.

He said: "I was sent for a scan and it revealed a lesion on my lung. It was devastating news, and I was immediately admitted for more chemotherapy."

Although the chemotherapy managed to reduce the size of the lesion, Jeff - who works as an administrative assistant for Healthcare Improvement Scotland - was warned that more treatment might be necessary.

He said: "From 2006 there was a gap until 2009 when I didn't need any treatment, but in 2009 I was told I needed more chemotherapy for three or four months and then, to my annoyance, in 2010 I also had to have some chemotherapy."

The chemotherapy on these two occasions was more intensive, causing a number of side-effects for Jeff.

"I lost the sensitivity in the palms of my hands and was very susceptible to the cold.

"I couldn't even hold a door handle without wearing gloves. My fingernails started to disintegrate, too."

Jeff praised staff at the Western General for the "incredible" care he has received, as well as his local GP surgery, Sutherland House, in Loanhead.

But his cancer ordeal didn't end there as last month, Jeff, who is married to Margaret and has two daughters and a five-month-old grandson Lewis, was told that the lesion had started to grow once again.

His latest round of treatment will start on May 16.

He said: "When I was first diagnosed in 2003, I went down to the deepest depths of despair and, having been there, you think, 'let's get the hell out of this' and just carry on - onwards and upwards. You do tend to think, 'how long can my body stand all this'?"

Consultant medical oncologist Ewan Brown, who has been treating Jeff, said: "Jeff is beating the odds and continues to do amazingly well. He has not only successfully fought the disease over many years, but he has also maintained an excellent quality of life."

Jeff, a railway enthusiast, is urging people to support a night-time walking marathon called Shine.

It is hoped that 5000 men and women will take to the streets of Glasgow on September 10 for Cancer Research UK.