BBC star Adele Roberts issues urgent plea as she gives update on bowel cancer battle
ADELE ROBERTS urged Brits to get bowel cancer symptoms checked even in they’re embarrassed.
The BBC Radio 1 DJ said early detection of her stage two bowel cancer saved her life.
“If you’re worried please speak to someone, early detection saves lives and it helped save mine,” she urged.
It comes as a new survey by Bowel Cancer UK found that nearly four in ten UK adults can’t name a single symptom of bowel cancer.
The disease is the UK’s second biggest cancer killer – with about 16,500 people dying of it yearly – but nearly three quarters of the 2,148 people surveyed weren’t aware of this fact.
The charity published its findings ahead of Bowel Cancer Awareness Month this April, as part of its new campaign helping people to #KnowTheHigh5 symptoms of bowel cancer.
These are the five ‘red flag’ symptoms of bowel cancer:
- blood in your poo
- a change in your bowel habits
- pain or a lump in your tummy
- weight loss
- tiredness/fatigue
Only about half of those surveyed by Bowel Cancer UK were able to name blood in your poo as a key symptom of the disease.
Rates of awareness dropped even lower for the remaining symptoms: only 22 per cent named changes in bowel habits as a bowel cancer red flag, while 13 per cent identified pain or a lump in your tummy as one.
Only 11 and three percent of the participants said weight loss and tiredness could be a sign of the disease.
Worryingly, six in ten people said if they experienced a change in bowel habit like diarrhoea or constipation that didn’t clear up, or saw bleeding from their bottom, something would stop them from contacting their doctor.
Their reasons included difficulties getting an appointment (36 per cent), being too embarrassed (13 per cent) or being too afraid that it could be something serious (13 percent).
Genevieve Edwards, chief executive of Bowel Cancer UK, said: “It’s concerning that people aren’t aware of the symptoms of the UK’s second biggest cancer killer.
“Someone dies from the disease every 30 minutes in the UK, which means that in the time it takes to watch an episode of your favourite soap, one family will lose a loved one to bowel cancer.
“But it doesn’t have to be this way as it is treatable and curable, especially when diagnosed early.”
She added: “By going to straight to your GP if you spot any symptoms, or if something just doesn’t feel right, it’s possible to rule out the disease first and fast.”
Speaking on BBC Breakfast, Genevieve noted that about 97 per cent of those diagnosed with stage one bowel cancer would survive it.
Adele told the programme she experienced all the key symptoms, such as blood in her poo, before she was diagnosed with bowel cancer in 2021.
“When you see it, it’s not loads of blood it’s only a little, so you think maybe my food is causing it, maybe I’ve not cooked my food properly.”
She also recalled attributing her bloating to greediness and her fatigue to working too much.
“The symptoms are so subtle you can explain it away,” Adele said.
But it’s fundamental that you squash down feelings of embarrassment or the idea that you’re being a silly or a burden to doctors, she stressed.
Adele said: “The doctors want to see you and they want to rule out bowel cancer fast and first.”
The DJ remembered: “It took me a while to pluck up the courage to call my GP at first.”
But she needn’t have worried.
“My GP took my concerns seriously, put me at ease and also offered me a home testing kit. This meant I was able to do the test in the comfort of my own home.”
Adele was diagnosed with stage two bowel cancer, which was nearly developing into stage three.
“Getting the help I needed in time helped save my life,” she stated.
Adele underwent treatment and her rectum removed but revealed she was cancer free in June last year.
She even intends to run the London Marathon next month – stoma bag in tow – as a ‘big thank you’ to the NHS, she told BBC Breakfast.
Adele’s partner Kate Holderness also appeared on the show.
She supported Adele through her batter with bowel cancer and told viewers it took her a while to learn that it was ok say that she had found it hard.
“Just know that it’s ok to ask for help yourself,” she said.
She described feeling helpless while watching someone she loved go through cancer – your first instinct is wanting ‘to take it away from them and do it yourself’, Kate said.
But she realised that there were parts of the journey she could share with her partner and said going with Adele to all her appointments and learning about the treatments helped her.
“Cancer is a team effort,” Kate added.
She also described how the pair’s approach to bowel cancer ‘red flags’ had changed since Adele’s diagnosis.
While at first being terrified of finding something, Kate said she was ‘so grateful to those symptoms, because without them Adele wouldn’t have gone in to get checked’.
“See those symptoms as a good thing – it’s a sign that you need to go and get sorted,” she urged viewers.
TV presenters Alan Titchmarsh and Tommy Walsh recently urged Brits to take up the offer of life-saving NHS bowel cancer tests after 30 per cent of those receiving them failed to return them.
They did so in the spirit of Sun writer Dame Deborah James, who campaigned for patients to “check your poo” and passed from the disease last summer.
In a win for her No Time 2 Lose campaign, the Government’s bowel cancer screening age was lowered from 60 to 50, and home testing kits were rolled out to 58-year-olds in England.
Dame Debs also raised more than £7million for her Bowelbabe Fund for Cancer Research UK.
As part of the charity’s new #KnowTheHigh5 campaign for Bowel Cancer Awareness Month, you can take a quiz on the five symptoms and share it with others.