BBC presenter Jeremy Bowen has revealed he is currently undergoing treatment for bowel cancer.
Jeremy – the broadcaster’s Middle East editor – shared his diagnosis during an appearance on BBC Breakfast on Monday, which coincided with the beginning of Bowel Cancer Awareness Month.
He explained that he decided to seek medical advice when he experienced “funny pains” in his back while reporting from Iraq in May last year, which then returned in October, this time in his legs.
After a hospital stay, where it was not suggested that he might have cancer, Jeremy decided to see a doctor, where tests confirmed his diagnosis.
“I’d had none of the classic bowel cancer symptoms,” he explained. “Nothing at all. But I thought, ‘really, I should get a test’.
“So I got a test and it was positive, and I had a colonoscopy – where they put a camera on a stick up your bottom, it’s not nearly as bad as it sounds, and they give you lots of drugs – and from that they found out I had a tumour, and I had surgery, got taken away and now I’m having chemotherapy.”
Jeremy went on to insist that people should not “die of embarrassment” by not going to the doctor about their bowel cancer concerns.
He also said he’s maintaining a “positive” attitude, revealing: “The chemo is not nearly as bad as I thought it would be in terms of side effects. I think I’ve just been quite lucky to tolerate it. You’ve got to keep positive about things in life. It’s all part of the journey.”
Jeremy appeared on BBC Breakfast with the Chief Executive of Bowel Cancer, Deborah Alsina MBE, who has said she hopes him going public with his diagnosis highlights the need for a change to the UK’s bowel cancer screening programme, which currently differs among England, Scotland, Northern Ireland Wales.
“Jeremy’s diagnosis highlights that we need to urgently deliver an optimal bowel cancer screening programme across all four nations of the UK,” she explained. “Screening has been shown to be the best method of detecting bowel cancer early.
“Implementation of FIT, which had been due to roll out in England in April 2018, is now significantly delayed. Each month we wait for implementation, more people are put at risk of a late diagnosis making their chance of long term survival harder.
“This is utterly unacceptable, people are dying needlessly of a disease that can be cured so this needs to be addressed urgently.”