Menkind: Darren Eadie discusses cancer awareness

Darren Eadie will be talking about his experiences with Cancer in this weeks Menkind Credit: Norfolk County Council/Richard Kelly

This has been the most difficult subject to cover for me throughout the whole of the Menkind programme. Cancer. It’s a frightening word and not a word people want to hear. It strikes fear into most people, including me, and rightly so.

There are more than 200 different types of cancers. Breast, lung, bowel and prostate cancers are the most common in the UK accounting for more than half of new cases of cancers each year.

  • Click to watch ITV News Anglia Menkind about cancer awareness

Cancer is actually the biggest killer in over 75 year olds.

In fact 69% of men surveyed said they had lost somebody close to them because of cancer, compared to just 10% of men who said they knew somebody who had died of a heart attack or lung disease

However the good news is that cancer survival rates are increasing – the earlier it gets diagnosed the easier it is to treat. That’s why it’s so important that any symptoms are spotted early and that screening should be taken up if offered.

For me personally having lost my mum this time last year to a brain haemorrhage, it has kind of put all those illnesses into perspective. Cancer has touched my own family personally. 5 years before that she had breast cancer which she had treatment for and fully recovered. You never know when things are going to happen – it came out of the blue and she was a very healthy lady. When something like that happens it’s devastating for the whole family. That’s why early intervention is so very important.

Darren has suffered loss in his family through cancer Credit: Norfolk County Council/Richard Kelly

My dad is a smoker, he’s smoked 40 cigarettes a day for as long as I can remember so I guess it was inevitable he might get cancer. Only recently he found out that he has pre cancerous cells in his mouth at a routine dental check. Just a couple of weeks ago he was in hospital having part of histongue cut away to remove the cells. He’ll have to have regular check ups now but fingers crossed he’s going to be ok. So having lost my mum last year and with my dad now dealing with a cancer issue, it puts things into perspective. All I would say to people reading this is that make sure that yougo and get yourself checked out on a regular basis and take up the screening when offered as some cancers might not have early symptoms.

  • The kind of symptoms you can spot are things like

  • a cough that doesn’t clear up,

  • an unusual lump anywhere on your body

  • blood in your urine or your faeces

  • a sore or ulcer that doesn’t clear up

  • unexplained excessive weight loss – we all think it’s a good thing to lose weight but if it happens over a short period of time and you’re not expecting it you should definitely get yourself checked out

Darren will be discussing more issues that we all face in the coming months Credit: Norfolk County Council / Richard Kelly

One of the common cancers in men is prostate cancer – we all know what’s involved and it might put you off going to the Doctor, having to bend over and being probed in a way you don’t want to be. However a few seconds discomfort should not put you off. Typical symptoms may include increased frequency or pain on urinating, or blood in your urine or semen.

Early detection is essential and I would urge anyone with worrying symptoms to please go to their GP. Survival rates are increasing, particularly with prostate cancer, but if you don’t take that firststep to get checked out you won’t get the early treatment you need.