Craig Forrest says that losing his good friend Les Sealey and
having an operation for cancer recently have put his life in
perspective.
"My wife Sophie and I talked about how things can change quickly a few times even before the cancer was diagnosed," he says, "because when Les Sealey passed away here was a young man and a good friend who had a massive heart attack and was taken away from us.
"We started to appreciate things a little bit more."
Craig is currently recovering from an operation on his testicular cancer and he explains;
"We are all very confident the operation went well, and I am just letting it heal now before chemotherapy.
"That is precautionary, a sort of insurance policy to kill off any foreign cells that might be hanging around, and it won't be very nice.
"The scan came back clear so it looks like we caught it early and I'm feeling a lot better now.
"There are two types of cancer and out of the two the one I had is definitely the more treatable one; the other one is too, but is more aggressive.
"I got the better one; it is a bit of a lottery, and there was all the shock to contend with because it all happened very quickly.
"It sure put things in perspective - it was certainly scary and I wouldn't want to go through it again.
"It was something you don't expect to happen to you, only to others, and it is important to stress to guys to keep checking.
"Most of these cancers are treatable if you catch them in time."
Craig was in the dressing room before the game against his former club Ipswich and he adds:
"The result just capped off a beautiful day and to get nine points in eight days is incredible; it just shows the difference a week makes in football.
"I hadn't seen anyone since the operation except Shaka; it was a great day, really memorable.
"No one is more pleased than me for the boys and Glenn; in the few weeks I have spent under Glenn I have seen he has got what it takes.
"There is no doubt that he has put a lot of hard work in."
He warns against complacency now but adds:
"You don't want to jump the gun after three results; once you get up table the pressures are different.
"But the confidence is growing and anything less than three points now against Fulham would be a disappointment."
Craig says he will return to action, though it is difficult to say exactly when.
"It is a great job, you are paid basically to keep fit," he says.
"It will take a long period of time to recover after the chemotherapy but if I am training before the end of the season it will be a bonus."
"My wife Sophie and I talked about how things can change quickly a few times even before the cancer was diagnosed," he says, "because when Les Sealey passed away here was a young man and a good friend who had a massive heart attack and was taken away from us.
"We started to appreciate things a little bit more."
Craig is currently recovering from an operation on his testicular cancer and he explains;
"We are all very confident the operation went well, and I am just letting it heal now before chemotherapy.
"That is precautionary, a sort of insurance policy to kill off any foreign cells that might be hanging around, and it won't be very nice.
"The scan came back clear so it looks like we caught it early and I'm feeling a lot better now.
"There are two types of cancer and out of the two the one I had is definitely the more treatable one; the other one is too, but is more aggressive.
"I got the better one; it is a bit of a lottery, and there was all the shock to contend with because it all happened very quickly.
"It sure put things in perspective - it was certainly scary and I wouldn't want to go through it again.
"It was something you don't expect to happen to you, only to others, and it is important to stress to guys to keep checking.
"Most of these cancers are treatable if you catch them in time."
Craig was in the dressing room before the game against his former club Ipswich and he adds:
"The result just capped off a beautiful day and to get nine points in eight days is incredible; it just shows the difference a week makes in football.
"I hadn't seen anyone since the operation except Shaka; it was a great day, really memorable.
"No one is more pleased than me for the boys and Glenn; in the few weeks I have spent under Glenn I have seen he has got what it takes.
"There is no doubt that he has put a lot of hard work in."
He warns against complacency now but adds:
"You don't want to jump the gun after three results; once you get up table the pressures are different.
"But the confidence is growing and anything less than three points now against Fulham would be a disappointment."
Craig says he will return to action, though it is difficult to say exactly when.
"It is a great job, you are paid basically to keep fit," he says.
"It will take a long period of time to recover after the chemotherapy but if I am training before the end of the season it will be a bonus."