FORMER lord mayor of Newcastle Ross Kerridge has emerged from months of intensive cancer treatment with scans showing evidence of an excellent response and cause for optimism.
Dr Kerridge said he could now look forward to getting on with the rest of his life.
"I feel enormously fortunate to have had this result," Dr Kerridge said.
"In retrospect, I found the effects of chemotherapy much more debilitating than I had anticipated, physically (especially fatigue), mentally ('chemo fog'), and emotionally."
The cumulative effects of chemotherapy, which got noticeably worse with every cycle, was particularly surprising, he said, finding the sixth and final round much tougher than the preceding ones.
He admitted that it had been "rocky'' at times, but that he had also had some wonderful time with family, whose support made all the difference.
"At this stage, my treating specialist advises that we can just repeat the scans every three months for the time being," Dr Kerridge said.
He would not be going back to clinical medicine Dr Kerridge said but would be doing some teaching with medical students and anaesthetists.
He will also be throwing his support behind his son, Robert Kerridge, who together with his cousin will be taking part in "the wonderfully named" Shitbox Rally.
"It's a charity event that has been going for about 15 years, raising over $50 million to support the Cancer Council," Dr Kerridge said.
His son had made the commitment last year, after his cousin's father-in-law died from cancer, Dr Kerridge said, and was unrelated to his own diagnosis.
The challenge involves participants finding crappy cars, or shitboxes, worth $1500 or less, and driving them across Australia.
A bit of 'tasteful' decorating of the cars is part of the fun, and those that survive are auctioned as an additional fundraiser at the end of the event.
"It's a great charity that works across all aspects and all types of cancer," Dr Kerridge said.
Dr Kerridge announced his resignation from his position as Lord Mayor in early February, due to the side effects of chemotherapy, after being diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma in October, 2025.
As well as six rounds of chemotherapy, Dr Kerridge has come through a bout of gram negative neutropenia, a dangerous combination of a critically low white blood cell count and infection.
Dr Kerridge was standing with Newcastle's new independent lord mayor Gavin Morris, former NBN news anchor and weatherman, the night he won the Newcastle mayoral election by a landslide in April.
Councillor Morris's election, and "with such a thumping majority", had been vindication, Dr Kerridge said, and compensation for those times he thought all of his political efforts may have been pointless.
"I think it's opened up a lot of people's eyes, stimulated a lot of interest in local government, and brought out feelings in the community about what's been going on, and I think that's a good thing," Dr Kerridge said.
"There is no question now, it's really confirmed that the community wants change, and wants things to be done differently and hopefully that will get through to the people who need to listen."
