Oxford surgeon describes worst nightmare - diagnosing son's cancer
ITV News Meridian's Natalie Verney met the Furniss family
A leading reconstructive surgeon has described finding himself as living every doctor's worst fear when he diagnosed his teenage son with a rare and aggressive type of sarcoma cancer.
The family from Oxford were on holiday when Jasper Furniss asked his dad about a lump he'd found on his thigh.
Jasper said: "I’d had this lump for a while and I thought nothing of it, I thought it was a muscle.
"And then I suddenly realised 'hang on there’s nothing on my left leg compared with on my right.'
"And I thought, as with everything medical, 'I’ll just show my Dad and see what he says'.
"Then he saw it and I’ve never seen him look like that before. He looked scared and I’ve never seen him look that scared."
Jasper had the lump "for weeks but thought nothing of it"
Jasper's dad, Dominic, is a leading reconstructive surgeon at Oxford University Hospitals.By a twist of fate, he works at one of the largest sarcoma treatment centres in the UK.
Prof Dominic Furniss said: "Immediately I knew what was going on. He had a big lump, it was about 7cm and it was deep. I could tell it was within the muscles of his thigh, and these are some of the hallmarks of a sarcoma.
"At that moment, I realised that I needed help and I reached out to some of my colleagues who run the sarcoma team and asked them for that help.
"I then went into the bathroom and burst into tears."
Dominic says he "burst into tears" in the bathroom
Dominic's colleagues arranged for a biopsy and scan within days. Just two weeks later, Jasper was officially diagnosed with myxoid liposarcoma.
This type of sarcoma is most frequently found in the limbs and in particular, the thighs. It's so rare only 72 people in the UK are diagnosed with it every year.
Sarcoma refers to a broad group of cancers that begin in the bones and in the connective tissues. It affects around 4,300 new patients in the UK annually.
Dr Sorrel Bickley at Sarcoma UK said: "When we’ve run a survey of people affected by sarcoma here in the UK, for over a third of people it took more than six months to get that diagnosis after they went to see their GP.
So we’re working really hard here at Sarcoma UK to educate GPs about the signs and the symptoms of sarcoma and to make that referral pathway to a sarcoma specialist much smoother."
Jasper underwent surgery to remove the tumour just four weeks after initially showing his dad his lump.
After months of dedicated physiotherapy, Jasper made a remarkable recovery. He now wants to raise awareness of sarcoma to help others get diagnosed quickly too.
Along with his Dad he’s planning to cycle 1000 miles, from Oxford to Barcelona, in 11 days.
All money raised will go to the charity Sarcoma UK. Jasper continued: "I got so lucky with the fact that my dad had the knowledge and the contacts that he had, that I was able to get such a quick diagnosis.
"I can’t imagine what it would be like if I had to wait any longer for my diagnosis."
Jasper's mum, Jenny Furniss said:"Everybody deserves the speed and diagnosis that we got simply because people need to know about it.
"I’m going to be telling everybody that I know, if you find a lump just go and get it sorted and don’t delay."
Typical signs of sarcoma include:
A lump which is growing, or bigger than a golf ball
A swelling or pain, deep within a bone which doesn’t go away at night
For more information on symptoms and where to find support:
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