Pandemic is no excuse for ignoring possible cancer symptoms

WE had so many reasons to do nothing.

Her indoors had the symptoms of breast cancer but the medics said it was low grade and hadn’t spread.

Meanwhile, I had just failed my annual prostate cancer test - though not by very much and nothing was actually hurting.

It might be a rogue result, so why not leave well enough alone?

All this happened amid last year’s pandemic and lockdown.

The hospitals were full of Covid patients fighting for their lives.

Was it right to put extra burdens on the NHS which might wait until easier times arrived?

And in my mind lay this unspoken thought - might we catch Covid germs on the wards, despite the efforts of the staff?

So we put off contacting the NHS for a while and when we made the call, we assumed nothing much would happen.

We would simply go on a waiting list somewhere. Wrong!

Thanks to the excellent 14-day NHS Cancer Pathway, our feet didn’t touch the ground.

My partner was sent off to the Royal Marsden, the superb specialist cancer hospital in central London.

The surgeons there quickly sharpened their scalpels and did the necessary.

Just as well. Alongside the expected papilloma, they found a small but malignant lump of tissue that hadn’t shown up on the scans and X-rays.

And she was in and out as a day case, so my not being allowed inside the hospital with flowers and chocolates was hardly a problem.

Then it was my turn.

Colchester General Hospital

An MRI scan at Colchester Hospital – noisy but painless – revealed that all was not kosher in places Down Under where the sun never shines.

That meant a biopsy under a general anaesthetic. Or 28 individual biopsies, to be exact, as bits of tissue were extracted from all sides of my overblown prostate.

Once the anaesthetic wore off, the recovery phase wasn’t a great experience, bringing symptoms that don’t belong in the pages of a family newspaper.

All in all, I would rather drive over a mile of potholes on the A12 in the rush hour.

There was also the worry about what the results would show when the unsung heroes in microbiology had analysed them and reported back.

That time of stress came to an end when I met my consultant and his friendly nurses.

It emerged that 27 of my tissue samples were fine.

However, the 28th was graded highly suspicious and that prostate area is still under active surveillance.

There were also lighter moments, as the clinical team inquired delicately about other issues.

How were the waterworks?

And was the lifting gear still functioning properly?

Once I guessed what these fine Victorian phrases actually meant, the answer was yes, the hydraulics were still lifting when required. And the waterworks were no busier than usual.

So what’s the moral of this cautionary tale? Basically, that cancer isn’t an inevitable death sentence.

Our NHS doctors and surgeons are there to treat the many and varied cancers that afflict us. But they can only spring into action if we tell them what’s going on.

Losing weight, but not from giving up jammy donuts? Lumps and bumps in places that should be smooth? A persistent dry cough that’s not from Covid? Well worth telling your GP about them. You’ll be glad you did.

READ MORE:

• Community Champions: Kind-hearted villager Emma has been breath of fresh 'hair'
• Running pals are striding into action to raise funds for breast cancer charity
• Meet the inspirational teacher who swapped the constabulary for a chemistry lab