Man, 25, told EIGHT times by docs he’s ‘too young’ to have bowel cancer is diagnosed with 8cm tumour
A PLASTERER is battling bowel cancer after doctors mistook his symptoms for constipation - because at 25, he was "too young" to have the serious disease.
George Hands was told eight times he did not have cancer, with doctors repeatedly highlighting his age as a reason.
Over the course of a year, he kept visiting GPs complaining of agonising pain.
The 25-year-old first visited his doctor in March last year but they dismissed his complaints as stomach cramps and constipation.
As George's condition became increasingly painful he visited his GP again and asked if he might have Crohn's disease or cancer.
But medics repeatedly told him he was too young to have either illness and continued to treat him for stomach cramps, prescribing him laxatives.
Finally, on March 5 this year George was referred to Alexandra Hospital in Redditch, Worcestershire, after he threatened to go to a private doctor.
After three days of investigations a doctor examined him with a camera and found an 8cm-long tumour in his bowels - that had been growing for at least a year.
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He now has to use a colostomy bag and has been put on a course of radiotherapy and chemotherapy to shrink the cancer before it can be removed.
Yesterday George, who lives with fiancee Claire Vipond, 24, in Studley, Warkwickshire, said: "When I was told I had cancer I was just devastated.
"I don't think it's ever not shocking to be told that, whether it's after two months of appointments or a year.
"But the fact that they think it has been growing inside me all that time I was asking if it was cancer does upset me.
"The surgeons all said they never would have thought I could get bowel cancer at my age either.
";If this had been spotted when I first went in then it could have been removed easily. As it is they have to shrink it before hopefully getting it out.
"All the staff at the Alexandra have been incredible, and without them it would have been so difficult.
WHAT ARE THE KEY SIGNS OF BOWEL CANCER?
Bowel cancer can be treated, but the earlier it is diagnosed the better a patient’s chance of survival.
If you suffer any symptoms, however embarrassing you may think they are, go to see your doctor.
GPs deal with bowels, tummy problems, diarrhoea and all sorts on a regular basis, so what may seem grim to you, is part of their normal working day.
The key signs you could have bowel cancer include:
- bleeding from your bottom, and/or blood in your poo
- a change in bowel habit lasting three weeks or longer
- unexplained weight loss
- extreme tiredness for no obvious reason
- a pain or lump in your tummy
Most of the time, a person suffering these symptoms won’t have bowel cancer.
Other health problems can cause similar symptoms, but it is vital doctors rule out cancer early on.
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"It is just incredibly upsetting that my doctor never even considered me having cancer. After a while I started to think maybe I do just have constipation.
"It does make me a little bit angry at my doctor.
"But they think I have got a chance of surviving this, so I'm just going to put everything into beating this."
Claire has set up a which has already raised over £2,000.
She said: "It was upsetting that it had been growing for a long time.
"We are heartbroken from the situation that George is in but we are staying positive together as a team and as a family and we know he will smash this.
"We want to raise funds for current and future research for Bowel Cancer UK and we want to raise as much awareness as we can.
"Age is just a number, and just because of your age you should never brush off your concerns you know your own body."
GPs will be able to combine a patient's symptoms with blood test results to measure a patient's likelihood of the disease as a percentage.
BOWEL CANCER BY YOUNG PEOPLE IN NUMBERS
Though bowel cancer is rarer in people under the age of 50, cases in this age group have soared by 45 per cent in the last 12 years.
Eachyear in the UK, more than 2,500 are told they have the disease before their 50th birthday.
Nearly 98 per cent of people will survive the disease, if it is detected in its earliest stages – stage one.
That’s compared to less than one in 10 people who will survive if they’re diagnosed at stage four.
Research has shown three out of five people diagnosed under the age of 50 will be told they have cancer at stage three or four.
A third (34 per cent) are diagnosed in an emergency situation, A&E for example.
As a result many young patients have a lower chance of surviving than they should.
Based on the result, they can then decide whether a young patient needs to see a specialist for further tests.
The tool is the first of its kind designed to speed up diagnosis in young patients.
Deborah Alsina, CEO of Bowel Cancer UK, who helped champion the new tool as part of their Never Too Young campaign, said it marks an "exciting" step forward.
"Delayed diagnosis is all too common for young patients with both bowel cancer and inflammatory bowel disease therefore finding quicker, more effective ways to identify and diagnose these patients earlier is crucial," she told The Sun Online.
"Our research shows that one in five young patients have to visit their GP five times or more before they get their diagnosis and this is simply not acceptable."
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