DEADLY DELAY
GP dismissed my ‘breathlessness’ when they realised it wasn’t a heart attack – it was a rare sign of killer bowel cancer
Scroll down to find out more about screening for the killer disease
A MAN who found himself short of breath while out walking was diagnosed with killer bowel cancer - but not before having to fight for a GP appointment.
Dad-of-oneDavid Gold rung the GP and said the receptionist dismissed him once it was realised he was not having a heart attack.
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Not long after, the 59-year-old former bank manager received his world-changing diagnosis after a back-and-forth with the GP surgery.
David warns others: “If you can't get a GP appointment, go to an NHS walk-in centre.
“I wish somebody told me to do that, because I would have done it.
"You might have to spend all day there and think, ‘I should be working,’ but give up a day of your life because I could have gained potentially months, if not years, at the end of my life if I had been seen sooner.”
Read more on cancer
Bowel cancer is the fourth most common type of cancer in the UK, and Cancer Research UK estimates around 44,100 new cases are diagnosed each year.
While 94 per cent of cases are diagnosed in people like David who are over the age of 55, the disease can strike anyone at any age.
While 60 per cent of people survive the cancer, early diagnosis is key.
When David became short of breath he feared he had inherited heart problems from his family.
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“I started to get really breathless when I was out walking and had pains in both arms, but I felt absolutely fine in myself,” David recalls.
“I called my GP and spent an hour and a half on hold. The question that I was asked when they finally answered was, ‘Are you having a heart attack?’
"I said, 'Clearly not, because I've been waiting on the phone for an hour and a half’.
Man, 34, with incurable bowel cancer shared two symptoms he ignored
"And they replied saying, ‘Well, I'm sorry, but there aren't any GP appointments available, and you're not entitled to one’. It’s a terrible service.”
Forced to use his initiative, David contacted his local hospital, the Leeds General Infirmary, and they allowed him to self-refer for testing as he was already known to them because his family had a history of heart problems.
After extensive tests, the experts at the hospital told David they could find no issues with his heart but could see there was some kind of health problem within his body.
They then urged him to walk into his GP’s office and demand an appointment.
His GP revealed he would need an urgent referral to a rapid chest pain clinic and that he would need blood tests in advance of an appointment there.
Cancer doesn’t care and doesn’t choose. You look at some ageing rock stars, for example, who have constantly abused their bodies over many years and don’t get it, and you get other people who spend their life living healthily who do
David Gold
Again, the surgery receptionist frustrated the process, he says.
“The GP stood there saying, ‘Mr Gold needs a blood appointment within 24 hours’,” he recalls.
“The receptionist complained, ‘We can't possibly do that, there’s no availability for bloods for at least two or three weeks'.
"And the GP said, ‘No, he's got to have one. He's urgent.’ So, I ended up getting a blood appointment the next day.”
That following evening, David received a call to tell him the blood test results showed his iron levels were dangerously low – with doctors shocked that he hadn’t lost consciousness due to the low levels.
He was then rushed to hospital for an emergency blood transfusion and iron infusion.
A couple of days later, the doctors also subjected him to a colonoscopy which uncovered a cancerous tumour in his bowel.
“The tumour was bleeding, which is why they say blood in the poo is a sign of bowel cancer," David says.
"But because my tumour was at the start of my large colon, my digestive system was sort of getting rid of that and reabsorbing the blood back into my system.
"It was the constant bleeding that was reducing the iron in my blood."
'I dismissed my own positive result'
Eight weeks before his ordeal began, David had gotten a positive result with the faecal immunochemical test (FIT) - a home test kit used by the NHS Bowel Cancer Screening Programme to detect bowel cancer.
The test is sent to everyone aged 54 and over, after The Sun successfully campaigned for the screening age to be lowered from 60.
If you have a positive FIT test, you’ll be invited to an appointment with a specialist nurse who will talk with you about your results and any next steps, the NHS says.
But David claims after a positive result, it was on him to contact his doctor.
“I'd got a positive result, but the literature that you get with the test suggests, ‘If there's a positive result, there's only a one in ten chance that it's anything serious,’ so, I dismissed my own positive result," he explains.
"I would say, don’t be misled by the statistics. Don’t presume you are the nine out of ten where the positive result doesn’t mean anything. Follow it up tenaciously.”
What are the red flag warning signs of bowel cancer?
IT'S the fourth most common cancer in the UK, the second deadliest - yet bowel cancer can be cured, if you catch it early enough.
While screening is one way of ensuring early diagnosis, there are things everyone can do to reduce their risk of the deadly disease.
Being aware of the signs and symptoms of bowel cancer, spotting any changes and checking with your GP can prove a life-saver.
If you notice any of the signs, don't be embarrassed and don't ignore them. Doctors are used to seeing lots of patients with bowel problems.
The five red-flag symptoms of bowel cancer include:
- Bleeding from the back passage, or blood in your poo
- A change in your normal toilet habits - going more frequently for example
- Pain or a lump in your tummy
- Extreme tiredness
- Losing weight
Tumours in the bowel typically bleed, which can cause a shortage of red blood cells, known as anaemia. It can cause tiredness and sometimes breathlessness.
In some cases bowel cancer can block the bowel, this is known as a bowel obstruction.
Other signs include:
- Gripping pains in the abdomen
- Feeling bloated
- Constipation and being unable to pass wind
- Being sick
- Feeling like you need to strain - like doing a number two - but after you've been to the loo
While these are all signs to watch out for, experts warn the most serious is noticing blood in your stools.
But, they warn it can prove tricky for doctors to diagnose the disease, because in most cases these symptoms will be a sign of a less serious disease.
Joining a clinical trial
With his condition finally diagnosed, David was then offered the chance to take part in FOxTROT 3; a clinical trial led by researchers in Leeds and Birmingham, which gives specific groups of patients a course of chemotherapy before surgery with the aim to improve survival rates.
They then undergo a further high-intensity course of post-surgery treatment.
“It was a relatively easy decision because my mindset is that if you don't have people willing to do things differently, you'll never move forward,” David explains.
“You obviously want to cure cancer. So that was in my mind, plus the fact that there weren’t any new drugs involved gave me some reassurance.
"I think if it had been new drugs, I’d feel like I was being used as a guinea pig and the new drugs might not work at all. But that wasn’t the case.
"It was about giving different combinations and higher doses of the existing drugs.”
The chemotherapy – which involved an intravenous infusion followed by eight tablets a day for two weeks, a process that was followed twice ahead of surgery – was brutal, but worked.
David’s tumour shrank by a third, meaning his surgery was less invasive than it otherwise would have been.
But, round four of the post-surgery chemotherapy became unbearable as he developed painful blisters on his hands and feet, and the medication made him so ill he was unable to retain any food or water.
He was rushed to hospital once again where he received IVs to give him fluids while he regained enough strength to eat again.
Having endured four out of a planned six post-surgery intensive chemo rounds, doctors decided not to proceed any further.
However, a year on from his surgery, David, who has been supported throughout his health battle by his wife, Anne, and their son, is now on the path to recovery.
Testing has found no trace of cancer in his body, but it will be five years of six monthly check-ups – involving blood tests and CT scans – before he can be safely declared cancer free.
Through his experience, he hopes to be able to share advice for others who might have unusual symptoms of life-threatening illness.
He has also recently been supporting Yorkshire’s cancer charity, Yorkshire Cancer Research, who funded the trial he benefited from, to promote the importance of early diagnosis.
David urges others that are diagnosed with or have concerns about cancer not to obsess over the symptoms or the causes.
David says: "Cancer doesn’t care and doesn’t choose. You look at some ageing rock stars, for example, who have constantly abused their bodies over many years and don’t get it, and you get other people who spend their life living healthily who do.
"Cancer does prove that you only live once. Your life is the real thing, it’s not a rehearsal.
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"Whilst I wouldn't recommend anybody to go out and be Cavalier in their approach to life, I wouldn't recommend that you effectively spoil your life by being over cautious.
"Be sensible and stay as healthy as possible to mitigate the risk of getting cancer but, ultimately, there are no guarantees."
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Bowel cancer screening
Bowel cancer screening is a test you do at home that checks for signs of bowel cancer. It's offered to everyone aged 54 to 74.
The screening uses a test called a faecal immunochemical test (FIT) to look for blood in a sample of your poo. This could be a sign of bowel cancer.
You collect the sample at home and send it by post to be tested.
It can help find cancer early, and before you have any symptoms, which may mean it’s easier to treat.
If you’re aged 54 to 74 and registered with a GP, you’ll automatically get a bowel cancer screening home test kit (FIT kit) through the post every two years.
If you’re aged 75 or over, you can ask for a home test kit every 2 years by calling the bowel cancer screening helpline on 0800 707 6060.
If you don't have a permanent home address, you can ask your GP surgery for your test kit to be sent to the GP surgery or to another address.
Source: NHS
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