Adele Roberts has revealed that she felt that she was in the “best shape of my life” before being diagnosed with bowel cancer in October last year.
The Radio 1 DJ, 43, was diagnosed with stage 2 bowel cancer last October and announced that she was cancer free in June this year.
“I think people like Dame Deborah James speaking out is brilliant thing. Bowel cancer is the second biggest cancer killer in the UK, which I didn’t realise until I got it,” Roberts told Metro.
“When I first started experiencing my symptoms, I just thought it was a bit of a dodgy tummy. Kate [Holderness, Roberts’ partner] said it was because I wasn’t cooking my kale properly. She was like ‘it’s you, you’re bad at cooking!’
“And hopefully now if people have seen what I’ve been through, and what Deborah has been through, people will go, ‘oh, hang on a minute, I might just need to speak to somebody and just get a bit more help and clarification and maybe have a test just to check I’m okay.’”
Dame Deborah James died in June this year after a six-year battle with bowel cancer.
When Roberts revealed she had bowel cancer last year, she said one of main symptoms was that she had been struggling with her digestion.
“Thanks to a conversation I had with my Dad a few years back I went to my GP for a check up. I’ll be honest, I was embarrassed but I also knew that it could be something serious,” Roberts wrote in an Instagram post at the time.
Speaking to Metro, Roberts added: “I’ve met so many young people that have been affected by bowel cancer. And unfortunately, because it’s rare in younger people, it means that it gets picked up later, and therefore it’s more deadly.
“That’s what happened to Deborah James, sadly hers got detected too late on so it had spread in her body. Whereas I was so lucky that they got it at stage two with me.
“But if I hadn’t been aware of the great work she’d have done, I might have been stage three, stage four, and it might be a different story for me. So I think the screening age should be brought down if it could be.”
According to the NHS, common symptoms and signs of bowel cancer include:
- A persistent change in bowel habits such as defecating more often or frequent diarrhea.
- Blood in the poo without symptoms of haemorrhoids.
- Abdominal pain, discomfort, or bloating always brought on by eating.
The NHS says constipation is rarely caused by serious bowel conditions.
