Was this written about me?

An extract from "A Spot of Bother", by Mark Haddon

He took a long, quiet breath. "I'm frightened". He stared at the television.

'What of?'

'Of dying...I'm frightened of dying.'

'Is there something you're not telling mum?'She could see a stack of videos beside the bed. Volcano, Independence Day, Godzill, Conspiracy Theory...

'I think...' He pasued and pursed his lips. 'I think I have cancer.'

She felt giddy and a little faint. 'Do you?'

'Dr Barghoutian says it's eczema.'

'And you don't believe him.'

'No', he said. 'Yes'. He thought hard. 'No, not really.'

'Perhaps you should ask to see a specialist.'

Dad frowned. 'I couldn't do that.'

She nearly said let me have a look, but the idea was gross in too many ways. 'Is this really about cancer? Or is it about something else?'

Dad scrubbed ineffectually at a little jam stain on the duvet. 'I think I might be going insane.'

[....]

Katie said, 'I've got to go.'

He didn't react to this, either. He said very quietly, 'I've wasted my life.'

She said, you haven't wasted your life,' in a voice she normally reserved for Jacob.

'Your mother doesn't love me. I spent thirty years doing a job that meant nothing to me. And now...' He was crying. 'It hurts so much.'