THE POSITIVE PROFESSOR

SOCIAL media’s voice of calm Karol Sikora has been signed up by the Daily Express. Readers can now enjoy his soothing advice in these troubled times that have won him hundreds of thousands of followers on Twitter. If you need reassuring everything’s going to be all right read Professor Positivity.

OF ALL the tweets I receive, by far and away my favourite ones are those from people who have listened to advice and got a worrying symptom checked out.

One of those was from a lady called Joanne. Last year she plucked up the courage to see her doctor and she recently sent me a video of her ringing the bell, signifying the end of that treatment – just a fantastic clip.

I try to share as many of these stories as I can because I think the message is just so important. I’ve been in oncology for almost 50 years now and have treated tens of thousands of patients.

It is not an exaggeration to say that getting a symptom looked at early is often the difference between life and death.

Action

It’s a sad reality that so many delayed diagnoses of cancer will lead to severe complications and we are seeing that at Rutherford now.

This is even more apparent in later stage breast cancers – so please take extra care to keep a close eye on any usual lumps or pains in your breast area.

Taking that step to ring your doctor can be terrifying. Fortunately, the vast majority of times it is nothing to worry about, so it will ease your conscience.

And if there is a problem it is far better to catch it early. Either way, prompt action is the best thing to do.

It’s a repetitive message and for that I apologise. It’s one we need to hear from our politicians more. All the usual Covid advice applies and we need to follow the rules in these challenging times.

But it’s so imperative not to ignore other illnesses which can cause so much suffering as well.