“They missed these five symptoms and now my cancer is incurable”

A man who was told he had incurable bowel cancer says there were five red flag signs he missed which could have seen him diagnosed earlier. Journalist Robert Fisk says the main emotion he feels after his diagnosis is guilt.

Writing in The Express, he said: “If I had paid more attention to the possible symptoms of the disease, my family and friends would not have to prepare for the fact that only 11% of people in my position survive more than five years. .”

Robert was diagnosed last year and part of the reason for the delay was that he also had meningitis. Some of the symptoms of this cancer have been mistaken for symptoms of infection. He said doctors at the hospital were “just looking for what they thought they were going to find, rather than investigating all the potential problems.”

Robert is now urging people to look out for symptoms. He said: “I missed these five signs but if you experience any of them you should tell your GP. It might not be a sign of cancer, but no matter what the problem is, the sooner you say something, the sooner you can be. treated”.

Extreme tiredness/fatigue

Robert said: “I was convinced I was tired because I wasn’t getting enough vitamins in my diet. Most of the time I was exhausted and I couldn’t see why.” He added: “If you feel that your fatigue level is much higher than normal, I would advise you to see your GP as it could be a symptom of a bigger problem.”

Back pain

Robert said: “I wasn’t alarmed when I had a slight pain in my lower back after sitting in the back of a car or sitting at my desk at home. This pain went away after my first chemotherapy session, leading me to believe that it may actually have been caused by a tumor.”

Blood in your poop

Robert said: “This is an important indication that there may be bowel cancer or another problem with your body and you should tell your GP as soon as possible. Until I was diagnosed with bowel cancer I always wondered how anyone could detect it and I would suggest that the best thing to do is to look for blood or a reddish tint on the toilet paper when you use the toilet.”

Robert said: “A simple test at home…revealed that there was blood in my poo and my bowel cancer ‘journey’ had begun.”

Stabbing pains when using the toilet

Robert said: “If it happened every time I went to the toilet, I would have told my GP about the stabbing pains I felt. But they were gone as quickly as they came, so I didn’t schedule an appointment to flag them as a show.!

Extreme weight loss

Robert said: “After my stay in hospital for meningitis I weighed myself to see how much weight I had lost. I was delighted that after two weeks of vomiting and diarrhoea, I had lost almost two stone and was going to be ready for the beach. .

“My family doctor did not see this and signaled that such weight loss was not healthy and was probably caused by a problem inside me. If you’re losing weight quickly and there’s no explanation for it, then make an appointment with your doctor. .”