UK Man Diagnosed With Bowel Cancer After Passing Off Rapid Weight Loss to 'Working Too Hard'

A man from the United Kingdom was diagnosed with bowel cancer after he repeatedly passed off his rapid weight loss to "working too hard" and "not eating properly."

The individual, identified to be 40-year-old Rob Gore, ignored the symptoms of his illness, which includes passing blood when he went to the toilet until his wife Kirsty urged him to visit the GP. The supply chain logistics manager from Warrington then said that by the time he received his diagnostics, he resigned himself to the fact that it was something severe.

Bowel Cancer Diagnosis

He revealed that the doctors told him he had bowel cancer and that it had already spread throughout his body, with nodules inside his liver and lung. The charity Bowel Cancer UK showed data that revealed there were nearly 43,000 people diagnosed with bowel cancer every year. This means that it is the fourth most common cancer and the second biggest cancer killer in the region.

Most of the cases, roughly 90%, are found in people 50 years of age and it is more common in men than in women. However, the disease is still known to affect anyone regardless of their age or gender, as per the Daily Record.

Gore revealed that he had six rounds of chemotherapy at The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre's outreach clinic located in Halton Hospital's CanTreat unit. He also got treatment to help stop the cancer from spreading further throughout his body. The man still visits the Clatterbridge team to collect cancer medication and get regular scans and check-ups.

A scan that was conducted on the patient a year ago detected potentially cancerous growths called nodules in his lung, which forced him to undergo the six rounds of chemotherapy. Later on, he also had a lung ablation at Royal Liverpool Hospital. The procedure, which is non-surgical, uses heat to kill cancer cells inside a patient's body, allowing medical professionals to treat a nodule they suspect could be coming back.

Ignoring Symptoms

According to the Liverpool Echo, three years since Gore's diagnosis in March 2018, he has gone back to working full-time and recently visited London and Belfast with his family to celebrate his 40th birthday. He said that his wife and children have been "brilliant." He said that his two stepchildren and birth daughter raised money for a charity that supports children who have family members with cancer.

Gore said that he and his family were just trying to make the most of their time trying to get out and have fun and enjoy life together. He also said that he was glad to have gone back to work and met other people because he was not fond of just sitting around doing nothing.

During Bowel Cancer Awareness Month, Gore shared his story to encourage other people not to ignore possible symptoms of cancer. He said that he would always tell his friends, family, or anyone that if they experienced any sort of symptoms to immediately get checked to see if there is something wrong, Wales Online reported.