Man, 28, 'gave up' trying to speak to his GP - then he was diagnosed with cancer
A fit and healthy man says he abandoned trying to get help from his GP just months before being given a pancreatic cancer diagnosis.
Dan Godley first started experiencing symptoms in July 2020 when the 28-year-old suffered from tightness in his abdomen. Through his employer's private medical care he was sent to have an ultrasound to investigate but the scan came back clear. However, in May 2021, his condition began to worsen.
Dan, from Cheshire, changed jobs so went to see his GP and was referred for blood tests which again came back negative. Dan was informed of the results by text, Cheshire Live reports. But before long his symptoms became unbearable.
He wanted to see his GP but instead decided to go to A&E (Getty Images/iStockphoto)The message ended the line of communication with his doctor about the issue - so every time he rang his GP he would have to explain all over again. Dan said this was incredibly disheartening and he stopped trying, despite experiencing abdominal pain that was so intense that he was struggling to breathe.
Soon, he went to A&E and underwent many procedures, including a PET scan, but it took several weeks until he was told he had a tumour on his pancreas. Dan said the diagnosis was a shock to everyone, as he was previously fit and healthy. He said: "The diagnosis of pancreatic cancer was such a shock to everyone.
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"Particularly because of my age and my good health. The cyst growing on my pancreas had got so large that it blocked the bile duct off, resulting in jaundice. Without the cyst growing to this size and causing other problems with my body, I would have probably not been diagnosed until the cancer had spread beyond the pancreas."
Dan cannot currently undergo surgery due to the proximity of the tumour to a major artery. He is currently undergoing chemotherapy in the hope the tumour will shrink away from the artery. He added: "The symptoms of pancreatic cancer are not well-known, but I am proof that it can happen to anyone. With increased awareness around the symptoms and better training in GPs, it’s my hope that we can improve the survival rates of pancreatic cancer sufferers."
Charity Pancreatic Cancer Action says just 10 per cent of the 10,500 annual UK pancreatic cases are diagnosed in time for life-saving surgery. The charity blames the 'overworked and overstretched' GP workforce for the bleak figures, and has called on the government to keep its promise of delivering 6,000 extra GPs in England.
Joe Kirwin, CEO of Pancreatic Cancer Action said: ”Our PCAM campaign #MISSED was developed to raise awareness of all the missed pancreatic cancer diagnoses that have had huge, irrevocable impacts on people’s lives. Symptoms were missed, and now thousands of families are missing their loved ones. If detected earlier, many pancreatic cancer sufferers could survive - but it all starts with education."
Mr Kirwin continued: "Over 7,000 GPs in the UK have completed our e-learning - but this simply isn’t enough - we need every GP in the UK to have completed our training (there are over 45,000 GPs nationally) if we have any hope of improving the bleak statistics of pancreatic cancer survival and life beyond pancreatic cancer.
"With early diagnosis, pancreatic cancer can be survived. For those diagnosed in time for potentially life-saving surgery, five year survival increases to around 30 per cent. This presents an opportunity for intervention where people can be diagnosed earlier and live longer with a better quality of life."
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