Living with Stage 4 Cancer
- Escape from the Country‘s Jonnie Irwin has been battling stage 4 lung cancer since 2020, and often posts uplifting material on social media spending quality time with his family.
- Despite the dad of three’s challenging health condition, he has been posting uplifting moments — something as simple as a soccer win — reminding his followers to keep finding slivers of joy on a daily basis
- Irwin recently shared that he spends time in hospice care to help him cope with his cancer.
- Treating cancer in advanced stages of the disease is extremely challenging emotionally and it’s important to remember that not all late-stage cancer treatments are the same.
The English star’s latest Instagram share expresses joy over a “pulsating” sports win from London’s Tottenham Spurs in the team’s 4-1 soccer match against Newcastle.
Read More
View this post on Instagram
This was the Spurs first win in over a month, noted U.K. outlet lastwordonsports.com.
“Never knew you were a spurs fan! Love for you just grew a bit more! Fantastic win,” a fan wrote in the comments, while another urged him to “Keep doing the positive vibes.”
Irwin’s Diagnosis
Since first learning about his stage 4 lung cancer, Irwin has often publicly noted how he’s dedicating as much time to his three sons as possible, creating any lasting memories he can for the boys, who are all under 5 years old and unaware of his exact health condition.
“I want to make memories and capture these moments with my family because the reality is, my boys are going to grow up not knowing their dad and that breaks my heart,” Jonnie told Hello Magazine in a June interview.
Palliative Care
Irwin recently shared that he spends time in hospice care to help him cope with his cancer.
“I remove myself on a number of occasions because I’m not good to be around when I’m in pain,” Irwin said.
“I’m like a bear with a sore head and I don’t want them to be around that,” he added.
Treating cancer in advanced stages of the disease is extremely challenging emotionally and it’s important to remember that not all late-stage cancer treatments are the same.
“Hospice care focuses on the care, comfort, and quality of life of a person with a serious illness who is approaching the end of life,” the National Institute of Health (NIH) explains.
Hospice care provides comfort care, but does not aim to cure the disease. Experts recommend patients considering hospice care talk to their care team early on in order to take advantage of all the comforts it can provide.
“Starting hospice early may be able to provide months of meaningful care and quality time with loved ones,” the NIH adds.
Learn more about SurvivorNet's rigorous medical review process.