It was September 1, 2010.  The first day of Spring. The day the sap rises.

On this first Spring day this sap rose and went to the hospital. Actually, it wasn’t a sappy thing to do.  I went for a regular ultrasound…. something I had been doing every few months since being diagnosed with cirrhosis of the liver and almost dying from septicaemia four years ago.

Back then I had also been diagnosed with, what I called a ‘pesky spot’, a growth about 15mm by 12mm, tucked away in the top left hand corner near the heart and the diaphragm.

It was a dangerous place to probe for a biopsy and there was a strong chance it was a regrowth nodule.

It was decided just to keep an eye on it with regular ultra-sounds every two months.

I’d given up drinking at the start of 2006. This incredibly resilient and versatile organ started regenerating – even as several bouts of septicaemia and an almost non-existent immune system nearly took me out.

Through 2008, 2009 and early 2010 the Hinch recovery continued. By late 2008 I was...

I have liver cancer. I intend to tell you about it. The day I found out, the first thing I did was go to the books folder on my computer desk top. Not to buy one but to write another one. I started a folder called: My Liver, My Life.

And I started a daily diary on what was happening to me and what I was thinking. I also thought that by immersing myself in a project, by being brutally honest about it through my radio program on 3AW, through Twitter (@HumanHeadline) and through this hinch.net website, I might actually add something to several health debates.

The main one being about the appalling lack of organ donors in Australia. The fact that only 11 people per million population in this country donate organs compare to 34 in Spain and 24 in the United States. It’s a combination of ignorance, fear and laziness. Plus a sense of ‘it won’t happen to me’.

I also plan to continue the campaign against alcohol abuse. I started it with my last book I Beat the Booze And...