Man says cancer now incurable after he ‘missed’ five major symptoms

A man has pin-pointed several cancer symptoms he missed after being told some heartbreaking news by doctors.

Daily Express reporter Robert Fisk was diagnosed with incurable bowel cancer after a number of signs before it was too late. He has spoken about his condition in an attempt to highlight many concerns others may ignore – and he told people to not make the same mistakes he did.

Popular writer Robert says his advice is to be ‘less like’ him and ‘more like’ British Transport Police, whose slogan ‘see it, say it, sorted’ can be easily transferred to health issues. He is opened up about his battle and says there are six signs he wish he acted upon – and stressed that if you experience any of them you should say something to your GP.

Writing in The Express, he said: “If I had paid more attention to possible symptoms of the disease my family and friends wouldn’t have to be preparing for the fact that only 11 per cent of people in my position survive longer than five years.They might not be a sign that there’s cancer but no matter what the issue is the sooner you say something the sooner you can be treated.”

Robert was diagnosed last year, and part of the reason for the delay was that he had also had meningitis. Some of the symptoms of this cancer were mistaken for symptoms of the infection. He said doctors in the hospital ‘were only looking for what they thought they would find, instead of investigating all potential issues’.

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 couldn’t put my finger on why.” He added: “If you’re feeling like your level of tiredness is much higher than normal I’d advise you to see your GP as it might be a symptom of a bigger issue.”

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 after sitting at my desk at home. This pain disappeared after my first chemotherapy session, making me think it might have actually been caused by a tumour.”

Blood in your stool

Robert said: “This is a big clue that there may be bowel cancer or another issue with your body and you should tell your GP as soon as you can. Until being diagnosed with bowel cancer I always wondered how someone was able to detect this and I’d suggest that the best thing to do is to look for blood or a reddish tinge on the toilet paper when you use the loo.”