I have to spend this Father’s Day as if it’s my last – after bowel cancer dropped a bomb on my life
JAIMIN Patel is planning to spend this Father’s Day as if it’s his last with 14-month-old son, Keshal.
He was just 30 when he was diagnosed with bowel cancer – three years later he discovered it’s incurable.
The dad-of-one knows he won’t be around forever, and so milestones like this Sunday are all the more poignant.
Jaimin is speaking out about his ordeal in support of The Sun’s No Time 2 Lose campaign, to raise awareness of the disease, which kills around 16,000 people every year.
Bowel cancer is the 2nd deadliest form of the disease, but it can be cured IF it’s caught in the early stages.
Caught at stage 1, a patient has a 97 per cent chance of living for five years or longer.
But catch it at stage 4 – when it has already spread, as it has in Jaimin’s case – and that chance plummets to just seven per cent.
Early diagnosis is vital, and the national screening programme is an important tool.
That’s we are calling on the Government to lower the screening age from 60 to 50 – a move which could save more than 4,500 lives every year, and the NHS millions, avoiding the expensive treatment costs.
The No Time 2 Lose campaign is also calling on everyone to learn the signs and symptoms of bowel cancer – something Jaimin had no clue about, until it was too late.
That’s why he is speaking out, this Father’s Day, to try and prevent others going through what his family has.
“The most important thing is that we spend time together as a family,” he says.
“Time becomes so precious when you don’t know how long you have left. It’s always Keshal that goes through my mind when I have the next check-up or scan.
“I don’t know how much of his future I’ll get to share.
“I always go in wondering if it’s going to be the time when they tell me they’ve found a problem they can’t solve. If there’s nothing else they can do to help me.”
SCREENING FROM 50 IS A NO BRAINER - IT COULD SAVE THOUSANDS OF LIVES
THE Sun’s No Time 2 Lose campaign is calling for bowel cancer screening in England to start at 50 NOT 60.
The move could save more than 4,500 lives a year, experts say.
Bowel cancer is the second deadliest form of the disease, but it can be cured if it’s caught early – or better still prevented.
Caught at stage 1 – the earliest stage – patients have a 97 per cent chance of living for five years or longer.
But catch it at stage 4 – when it’s already spread – and that chance plummets to just seven per cent.
In April, Lauren Backler, whose mum died of the disease at the age of 55, joined forces with The Sun to launch the No Time 2 Lose campaign, also supported by Bowel Cancer UK and Beating Bowel Cancer. Donate .
Lauren delivered a petition to the Department of Health with almost 450,000 signatures, to put pressure on the Government to make this vital change – one that could save thousands of lives every year, and the NHS millions.
We all deserve an equal chance to beat this disease, regardless of where we live.
We know bowel cancer is more likely after the age of 50 – so it makes sense to screen from then.
Plus, it’s got to save the NHS money in the long-run, catching the disease before patients need serious and expensive treatments.
It’s a no brainer, thousands of lives are at stake every year.
You can still sign Lauren’s petition to show your support and strengthen the case for urgent reform –
Jaimin, 35, a property developer who lives in Mill Hill, North London, with wife Roma, 32, went to his GP in 2013 after noticing blood in his stool.
“I didn’t really think much of it,” he says. “It didn’t really sink in that anything serious was wrong. I went to the doctor and they did some tests.
“But then it disappeared for a while and I didn’t chase the results until the end of the year when my family were hounding me to follow it up.
“When I went back, the doctor said that actually there was something a bit odd about the results and he referred me for a colonoscopy.
“I still wasn’t imaging it to be anything serious. The consultant came back in and said ‘Is anyone with you?’.
“My uncle was waiting outside to pick me up and I called him in to come and sit with me.
“When my uncle came in, the consultant sat us down and said ‘I shall need to do some tests but I’ve seen this many times before and I’m pretty sure it’s bowel cancer’.
Jaimin is speaking out ahead of Father’s Day joining forces with The Sun’s No Time 2 Lose campaign to raise awareness of the disease and to call on the Government to lower the screening age from 60 to 50.
Thinking back to that “It was a huge shock to the system. It was way beyond what I was expecting, especially at my age, I was only 30 at the time. I hadn’t felt unwell.”
Jaimin had his first operation in July 2014. His large intestine was removed and he was left with an ileostomy bag.
“At first we weren’t sure what the options were so I went to get a second opinion in case another surgeon felt it could be done differently. But both surgeons felt this was my best option.
“I didn’t like the idea of having the ileostomy, but I had to go ahead with the surgery. I didn’t really have a choice.
“It was a very difficult time and just before the operation my mother Yaksha passed away suddenly from a brain haemorrhage, which made it even harder.
“After the surgery, I had chemotherapy for around nine months, and that finished in February 2015. I recovered from that quite well and I was clear of cancer for a good year or so after that.”
But in 2016, lesions were found on Jaimin’s liver and on his lung. His cancer had spread, and was now classified as stage 4.
“They did a large operation on my liver that removed around 70 per cent of my liver and a smaller operation a few months later on my lung,” Jaimin explains.
“At the time I didn’t need further chemotherapy. They were quite happy with how I was doing.”
It was between these operations when wife Roma, a HR analyst, fell pregnant.
I’ve seen bowel cancer ads on the tube but I had never really paid much attention. Maybe if I’d looked a little more I would have spotted the signs a bit earlier
Jaimin Patel
Jaimin said: “We weren’t actively trying but we said if it happened, it happened. We didn’t know what our future was, but we didn’t want to leave it any longer.
“Keshal was born in April 2017 and fortunately at that time, I’d recovered from all the treatment and was feeling well so I was able to help out a lot with all the nappy changes.
“Having a son really meant the world to me. We were very happy and looking forward to family life.”
Then last year, the doctors found a small tumour on the Jaimin’s other lung.
“It was a case of watching and waiting for a while, but that was eventually removed in May this year so I’ve been recovering from that operation for the past few weeks,” he says.
“The recovery was quite hard. Keshal had turned one by the time I had the surgery so it was difficult for him to understand why daddy wasn’t picking him up and playing with him like he used to.”
The Patel’s are hoping to spend Father’s Day playing at the park and enjoying some good quality, family time.
“I was a little worried about him knocking into my wound at first,” Jaimin says. “But on the whole it doesn’t affect my ability to be a dad.
“We love playing together. I wish I didn’t have bowel cancer, but sadly, I do. That’s my lot and I have to accept it.
“I’ve seen bowel cancer ads on the tube but I had never really paid much attention. Maybe if I’d looked a little more I would have spotted the signs a bit earlier.
“Bowel cancer is not something people really talk about it.
“I don’t know if they are embarrassed or if they are just private about their own health, but it’s not something we are very open about.
“Poo is not a very polite conversation to have, but it is something we need to start talking about. I’m keen to get people to pay attention and to raise awareness of this disease.”
Back The Sun’s No Time 2 Lose campaign, tell us why you want to see screening at 50 and share your stories.
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