Michael Sloane was on holiday in Dorset when he spotted the first sign that something might be wrong.
After exerting himself on an outdoor gym, the accountant who lives near High Wycombe went to the toilet and noticed his wee was a “reddish rosé”.
Initially he put the strange colour down to the exercise. But 10 days later, he noticed the same discolouration after using the toilet. This time, he knew he needed to seek medical help.
“I went to get it checked out, and booked an emergency appointment with my GP,” he said. “She was very good, she ordered the various tests that you need, blood tests and wee tests, and then she referred me for a flexible cystoscopy where they put a camera inside your bladder, and they found a tumour there. That was a shock.”
For Michael, who was 58 when the cancer was diagnosed, the different colour in his wee was the only sign that he had bladder cancer.
Michael was treated at the time through an operationto diagnose and treat early bladder cancer (called a trans-urethral resection of bladder tumour, or TURBT). The cancer has returned over the intervening 10 years, but follow-up treatment successfully removed subsequent tumours detected in his bladder.
Offering advice for anyone worrying about something in their body that doesn't feel right, Michael said: “Go see a doctor, get it checked out. You need to be sure. Often it is not cancer, but it could be.”
Signs and symptoms of cancer
- Breathlessness
- Frequent infections
- Unexplained night sweats
- Unexpected or unexplained bruising or bleeding
- Blood in your pee - even just once
- An unexplained lump
- Blood in your poo, which may look red or black
- Unexplained weight loss
For three weeks or more:
- Tummy trouble, such as discomfort or diarrhoea
- Unexplained pain or discomfort
- Feeling tired and unwell and not sure why
- Heartburn or indigestion
- Unusual, pale or greasy poo
- A cough
Cancer signs and symptoms come in different guises, so it is important to be body aware. That means keeping an eye on any new or unexplained changes that are not normal for you.
While it’s probably nothing serious, finding cancer early makes it more treatable and can save lives. To rule out cancer, your GP practice may refer you for tests. Whatever the result, the NHS is there for you.
Tests could put your mind at rest. But until you find out, you can’t rule it out, so contact your GP practice if something doesn't feel right.
Gill Winsor, now 64, was 61 when she started to notice something wasn’t quite right. The delivery driver from Essex was later diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia (AML).
“I noticed my fitness seemed to be waning a bit, but I put that down to getting older and I hadn’t been going to the gym as much,” she said.
Gill Winsor, now 64, was 61 when she started to notice something wasn’t quite right— (Supplied)
“The next thing was a long lump in my groin, which suddenly appeared and got bigger and bigger. I’d been picking up loads of earth in the garden and putting it in the skip and I also went on a long bike ride,” she said. Her GP thought it sounded like an infection, but when antibiotics didn’t make a difference, they suspected a hernia.
A scan then showed her lymph node was enlarged, and she had a blood test. The next day got a phone call to say she was severely anaemic and was sent to A&E.
“I’d also had ulcers in my nostrils that just didn’t clear up and I have a raised vein under my eyebrow – when I caught it with a hairbrush I suddenly had a black eye. By then, I was also lightheaded when I stood up and getting more breathless going up the stairs,” she said.
“I didn’t know what the symptoms of leukaemia were, so I didn’t know all these things were related. While I was in A&E, I had a bone marrow biopsy and they called me in to say that it was acute myeloid leukaemia.”
Gill started her treatment at St Bartholomew’s Hospital, London, within weeks, including injections, chemotherapy and a stem cell transplant from a donor in America.
“One of the symptoms of AML is continual infections as well as night sweats,” she added. “Now I look back, the signs were there: feeling tired, joints aching and just before I was diagnosed I had a sharp pain in my lung, which I now know was an infection.”
However, awareness of blood cancer symptoms are low, with over half of UK adults not being able to name a single symptom.
NHS England’s National Clinical Director for Cancer, Professor Peter Johnson, said: “Cancer symptoms can come in different shapes and sizes and some can be less obvious than others, so it’s important to know what is normal for you and take notice of any changes.
“We know that many people don’t want to bother anyone with their health concerns – particularly if they are unsure about them – but we would always prefer you to contact your GP practice so that you can be checked.
“If something in your body doesn’t feel right, please come forward. Diagnosing cancer earlier saves lives, so we would prefer to see you sooner when cancer can be treated more easily and successfully.
“Blood cancers altogether make up the fifth most common type, with over 41 000 diagnosed every year in the UK. The symptoms can seem quite general - such as breathlessness, night sweats or feeling very tired for no obvious reason – but if something isn’t right please contact your GP practice. It might be nothing serious, but it could save your life.”
If something in your body doesn’t feel right contact your GP practice. For more information go to nhs.uk/cancersymptoms.
