Rob McPherson had enjoyed a few beers with friends the night before and thought he was suffering from a run-of-the-mill hangover, but as the sickness refused to shake, he realised it was more serious
A man has shared how he thought symptoms of his bowel cancer was a simple hangover after a heavy night.
Rob McPherson, 39, was struck down by an overwhelming wave of nausea one Saturday after enjoying a few beers with pals the night before. But as the sickness dragged on, he suspected he may have a stomach bug instead. Rather than getting better, his condition worsened – and Rob Rob was struggling to keep any food or drink down.
“I started feeling ill one Saturday and was throwing up,” Rob, who lives in Miles Platting, told the Manchester Evening News. “I thought I had eaten too much and drunk too much. I didn’t want to eat anything and was just throwing up.
“It was then that I thought it was just a general sickness bug. I felt like I wanted to eat, but whenever I did, it just came back up again. Anything that went down came back up. I started to not want to eat or drink anything. I was getting pains every now and again. I was feeling bloated and ill, with hardly any sleep at all.”
Rob became so unwell he was forced to take a week off work from his job as a digital media officer at a local school – something he says he never does. After three weeks, Rob’s partner encouraged him to dial 111 and medics immediately sent an ambulance to his home.
Rob, now aged 39, can recall paramedics asking him a series of questions before telling him they were going to Manchester Royal Infirmary. “I thought, ‘Oh dear, something could be wrong here,’ Rob recalled. “I just thought I was intolerant to bread, beer, chocolate or something like that. I was like a typical man – I thought I could beat it and that I’d get over it. Even at that point, I thought I would be fine.”
But Rob was far from fine. A CT scan revealed a blockage in his bowel, later having a stoma fitted to allow waste to leave his body. Tragically, three weeks later just before Christmas 2017, Rob was given the news no one ever wants to hear. Doctors had discovered a tumour. It was bowel cancer.
“Cancer was never on my radar at all,” Rob told the MEN. “I was only 32 at that point. It’s mostly over-50s who get bowel cancer. “When they found out it was cancer, I was a little bit surprised. I was told it could be colitis or another stomach issue. It floored me.
“I received a stoma and was then told the diagnosis – there were three weeks between the surgery and knowing for certain.
“I didn’t know during that period if it was cancer or not. They had said it could be things like colitis or something like that.
“You always think it happens to other people – people who are older, smokers, drinkers, or something like that. It just came as a shock for someone my age.
“At the start, I thought, no, I can’t have it because I’m not old enough, and I look after myself well enough.”
Rob says the devastating news was made easier to bear by the kindness of hospital staff who talked him through the next stages.
“When I got it [my diagnosis], the nurse told me about the next steps and gave me something to aim towards.
“It’s good to have those steps in your head – what’s coming up and what you can do about it.
“I quite liked the fact that the nurse was sympathetic, lovely and nice, but also practical which is what I needed.”
Rob underwent several weeks of chemotherapy and radiotherapy before having an operation to remove the blockage.
Sadly, his treatment means he will never be able to have children, however he chose to preserve his fertility by opting for a sperm bank.
Thankfully, Rob is now cancer-free and now uses his own experience to spread awareness of bowel cancer.