Brian has twice fought off a killer

Jan 12 2008 by Audrey Barton, The Journal

BRIAN Wilkin has fought bowel cancer twice.

He has witnessed first-hand the progress being made in cancer treatment and knows that early diagnosis increases the chances of survival.

The retired power station engineer from Throckley, Newcastle, was first diagnosed in 1991 when he was 43.

Despite feeling unwell for some time, Brian, now 60, had ignored his symptoms.

“Men are basically cowards,” he said. “Most men don’t want to go to the doctor because they don’t want to admit that anything is wrong. They think their health problems will just disappear, as if by magic.”

Eventually the pain in Brian’s abdomen became so bad that he decided to see his GP.

After a range of tests, he was diagnosed with bowel cancer and had surgery to remove the tumour.

“Things have moved on since then. I think the whole concept of cancer treatment is changing but not quickly enough.

“Hopefully cancer will be history in the future.”

Brian was quick to act when he started experiencing similar pains two years later. He called an emergency doctor to his home and was rushed into hospital. He had surgery again this time followed by a course of chemotherapy.

He said: “Diagnosis is very important. Provided that the condition is caught early enough, you stand a good chance of being cured. It’s much better to go to see your GP than just to worry about it.”

Brian is urging anyone who receives a bowel cancer screening kit to use it.