Get tested, says BBC’S Bowen as he reveals bowel cancer
JEREMY BOWEN, the BBC Middle East editor, yesterday revealed he is receiving treatment for bowel cancer after undergoing a test while showing no “classic” symptoms of the illness.
Bowen, 59, told BBC Breakfast he was diagnosed with the disease in October after experiencing pain in his leg and back while reporting in Iraq.
The journalist, who joined the BBC in 1984, said he underwent surgery to remove a tumour following a test and was now undergoing chemotherapy.
Bowen said: “I was diagnosed with it last October. I had some funny pains in my leg and my back when I was in Iraq. When I came back I had to go to hospital for a couple of days, but they didn’t mention cancer. They said it was to do with some scar tissue I had from some previous surgery.
“I went to my GP and I had no symptoms, none of the classic bowel cancer symptoms. I got a test and it came back positive. From that they found that I had a tumour. I had surgery to take it away. Now I’m having chemotherapy.”
Bowen, now a patron of the Bowel Cancer UK charity, said he wanted to speak out about his health to encourage others to receive cancer screenings, adding people should not “die of embarrassment”. He said: “I’ve been saying to all my friends ‘Get tested’. People I know have been queuing up at their doctor’s to get tested as a result of the diagnosis that I had.”
Last year, Stephen Fry and Bill Turnbull were praised for raising awareness of prostate cancer after talking about their own experiences. Their decision to come forward is thought to have led to a surge in people visiting the NHS online advice pages.
NHS England said there were 70,000 visits to the NHS website advice page on prostate cancer in March last year, a 250per cent increase from the monthly average of around 20,000.