The doctor said that Chris Hoy’s cancer diagnosis should be a wake up call for people to get checked.
BBC Morning Live regular, Dr Xand van Tulleken, has said that if people have a sore shoulder, they should keep an eye on it and not assume it’s from a work out or sleeping funny. Talking about the recent news about Sir Chris Hoy, he said it’s a “courageous” announcement to make and will help a lot of people do what they have been putting off – calling the GP.
In an interview with the Sunday Times, the six-time Olympic cycling champion revealed that his cancer is terminal with doctors telling him he has between two and four years to live. Sir Hoy said he’s known for a year his cancer is terminal with tumours having been discovered to his shoulder, pelvis, hip, spine and rib. Talking about how the sporting legend’s symptoms started, Dr Xand said that it was a “pain in his shoulder which he thought was from a workout. He’s an athlete, he lifts a lot of heavy weights – that’s what he blamed. And it’s a great reminder that if something isn’t right in your body, actually, if your arms are numb, it maybe isn’t just because you slept funny.
“If you’ve had a crooked neck for six weeks, maybe it isn’t just a crooked neck. Anything that is odd or out of the ordinary” should be checked, he stresses. If you’ve noticed a change in your bowel habits, “go and talk to your GP” he warns.”
A change in bowel habits that have lasted 3 weeks or more may include:
- tummy discomfort
- blood in your poo
- diarrhoea or constipation for no obvious reason
- a feeling of not having fully emptied your bowels after going to the toilet
- pain in your stomach or bottom (anus)
- your poo is loose, pale or looks greasy
With many struggling to get an appointment, the doctor further stresses that “your GP is the root to all of this. You don’t need an urgent appointment” but catching things early can make all the difference, he says. And often, these things turn out to be benign, but as always , it is better to be safe than sorry.
According to the health professional, “the NHS only really screens for three things – bowel, cervical and breast cancer”. Because of this, he is urging patients to be proactive in noticing the signs and symptoms, especially men who don’t often visit their doctor.
Changes to see your GP about
If you are worried, always get your GP to check it out. The changes you need to keep an eye on according to the NHS include, and are not limited to the following:
Sir Chris, who was inspired to take up cycling by the famous BMX scenes in the film E. T., won six Olympic, 11 world and 43 World Cup titles by the time he retired in 2013. The legend first won gold at the Athens Olympics in 2004 before securing three more gold medals four years later at Beijing.
As well as this, he won two further golds at London 2012 – shortly before his retirement. His collection of six Olympic golds is the second highest total by any British Olympian behind Sir Jason Kenny who has seven.
