WHEN Robert Slaven started to feel unwell, he put symptoms of sickness in his stomach down to gallstones.
The 60-year-old went to his GP with nausea and was prescribed medication to try and quell the symptoms.
But when this didn’t work he was referred to the Glasgow Royal Infirmary for tests which revealed he was suffering from pancreatic cancer.
More than 50 per cent of patients with pancreatic cancer will die within three months of their diagnosis.
The most common symptoms of this cancer include back pain, indigestion, stomach pain and weight loss.
If you suffer any of these for four weeks or more then you should speak to your GP.
Married dad-of-two Robert, who lives in Glasgow with his family said he had been shocked at his diagnosis.
He said: “I did not really think anything about it. I presented myself to the hospital, and ended up in there for five weeks. It was an absolute nightmare.
“By this time, I started to turn yellow. I looked like Homer Simpson. I had never had jaundice, so I had no idea how serious it was.
“I later had an MRI and CT scan and ultrasound. A junior doctor came to see me with the results. He told me that they had found a mass at the top of my pancreas. I had thought it was gallstones. I could not believe what he was saying.”
Pancreatic Cancer UK says that anyone with jaundice or yellowing of the eye should go to A&E immediately.
Robert was diagnosed in June 2020 and is currently recovering from an operation.
He is trying to raise awareness of pancreatic cancer so that people are more aware of the symptoms.
“I never thought something like this could happen to me in my life. I was quite lucky that my GP picked it up quite early.
“It is one of those really slow growing cancers and by the time you are diagnosed, it is often too late”, he said.
Before being diagnosed he said he hadn’t been concerned with feeling sick but highlighted that his ‘liver function’ had been all over the place.
Robert is sharing his story as part of Pancreatic Cancer UK’s new campaign on early diagnosis.
A poll from the charity revealed that a quarter or people would wait three months or more to get help from a GP if they had signs of the cancer.
