Neil McCauley
16-04-2011, 22:10
The following is for men over a certain age. Let's say, over 55 yrs. That's 'cos men younger than this rarely get it and children never do. It's a true story. Might save your life too. It's certainly saved mine.
My CLL blood cancer has no external symptoms other than, believe it or not, the sort of mild bad breath which no mouthwash or brushing can remove and can only be spotted by someone else trained to spot it. That rules out 'civilians' of course.
My illness was discovered merely because I thought it an idea to check my blood sugar level via a blood test. My elderly and clearly very astute GP was I noticed in retrospect listening carefully and in a literal sense closely to what I was saying. He was checking my breath!
He said nothing about this observation at the time. Although the test was ostensibly for diabetes, his quick thinking [a] caused him to check for this specific type of blood cancer and [b] saved my life. Truth be told, has I waited just a couple of weeks longer for that test then the game would have been up and you'd all have been invited (by my Lawyer via this forum) to my woodland burial somewhere on NT property somewhere in Essex. Anyway ...... in my situation the NHS have been magnificent. So, talk closely to your GP.
My CLL blood cancer has no external symptoms other than, believe it or not, the sort of mild bad breath which no mouthwash or brushing can remove and can only be spotted by someone else trained to spot it. That rules out 'civilians' of course.
My illness was discovered merely because I thought it an idea to check my blood sugar level via a blood test. My elderly and clearly very astute GP was I noticed in retrospect listening carefully and in a literal sense closely to what I was saying. He was checking my breath!
He said nothing about this observation at the time. Although the test was ostensibly for diabetes, his quick thinking [a] caused him to check for this specific type of blood cancer and [b] saved my life. Truth be told, has I waited just a couple of weeks longer for that test then the game would have been up and you'd all have been invited (by my Lawyer via this forum) to my woodland burial somewhere on NT property somewhere in Essex. Anyway ...... in my situation the NHS have been magnificent. So, talk closely to your GP.