John Horgan’s first public appearance of the year at the B.C. legislature saw the premier in a jovial mood, cracking jokes about losing his beard and a considerable amount of weight since wrapping up cancer treatment last month.
Horgan told reporters he started losing his beard slowly over the course of 35 radiation treatments he’s endured since being diagnosed with throat cancer in November.
“I feel more agile. I gotta say, dropping 25 pounds'll do that," he told a photojournalist at the legislature in Victoria, where he was sporting a moustache rather than his trademark goatee. "I feel great. I get tired around suppertime and I'm not eating, like it's still hard swallowing."
Horgan said there were only a few days when he lost his voice, which he quipped was a great relief to his wife. He described tolerating the radiation well early in his treatment, with the side effects worsening over time, then being “violently ill” last week.
The illness prompted a COVID-19 test, which turned up negative, and he expressed his gratitude to health-care workers who cared for him.