MIND CAKE

The newsletter that's slightly more helpful than doing nothing

🍰 This week: How An Ewok Saved My Life

Five years ago a very calm, very kind consultant sat across from me in a Glasgow hospital and told me I had six months to live.

Last week I sat across from him with a cup of tea and talked about it.

I wasn't sure how I'd feel recording this one. Turns out — surprisingly okay. Mostly because Omar Hilmi is one of the most quietly remarkable people I've ever met. And partly because we spent a significant portion of it talking about Ewoks.

This is probably the most personal episode we've ever made. I hope it lands the way it's meant to.

— Lee

“ You've proved me to be a complete liar" — Mr Omar Hilmi

Mr Omar Hilmi is a consultant head and neck surgeon at Glasgow Royal Infirmary. In 2020 he operated on Lee during lockdown and told him he had six months to live.

He was also, briefly, a Wookiee in Return of the Jedi.

This episode isn't really about cancer. It's about:

— Honesty. Why patients deserve the truth even when it's devastating.

— Hope. How you hold both at the same time without pretending.

— How surgeons carry impossible conversations home with them.

— What David Gemmell's Legend has to do with surviving a terminal diagnosis.

— And how a top class surgeon ended up singing at Darth Vader's funeral.

One of the most human conversations we've ever had on this podcast. Genuinely.

🎧 Listen now — How An Ewok Saved My Life

🍪 Crumb of Wisdom

“ The most important thing is that the patient feels they are the only person in the room." — Mr Omar Hilmi

🍰 Icing on the Mind Cake

📅 Dates & Walnut Slices

25th May - Towel Day In honour of Douglas Adams and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Always know where your towel is. And never, ever be told the odds.

29th May - End of the World Day The date William Miller predicted the world would end in 1844. It didn't. Seemed like good energy for a podcast hosted by someone who was told he had six months to live.

31st May - World No Tobacco Day Your lungs would like a word.

📌 Listener Mission

This week's gentle challenge:

→ Think of one conversation you've been avoiding. You don't have to have it. Just notice you've been avoiding it.

→ Share this episode with someone who's been through something hard and come out the other side. They'll know why.

🍰 Join the tribe. Share and Subscribe.

👋 Closing Bite

Thanks for being here. For listening, sharing, and letting us poke around the fascinating messy world inside your head.

Stay curious. Stay playful.

And in the words of Dr Jan — don't be a dick.

🍰 Mind Cake: not self-help… just slightly more helpful than doing nothing.

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