Aged 46, Kevin Coles believes he suffers from a digestive disorder. Unfortunately, after months of going without a diagnosis, he has just discovered that he actually has terminal colorectal cancer.
Persistent abdominal pain
The story of this Briton, father of seven children, is reported by the Daily Mail. His wife Kayleigh also testifies in the article, reporting the deterioration of her companion’s condition. “It is so upsetting that he has been sent away countless times with laxatives. It was a stupid mistake, and a deadly one.”
Indeed, while he consults several times for persistent abdominal pain, the man is each time sent away with laxatives, the doctors linking this disorder to constipation. The pain increases and finally, after several weeks, another more serious symptom appears: jaundice. This symptom is often linked to liver dysfunction. This prompted the doctors to order a CT scan and unfortunately for him, the verdict was in: a 9 cm tumor was eating away at his intestine. Even more serious: the cancer has already spread to his liver, explaining the jaundice.
Other symptoms of colorectal cancer
Colorectal cancer is one of the most common in France, with 47,582 new cases diagnosed in 2023, men and women combined. The same year, the disease caused 17,000 deaths.
Beyond the most well-known symptoms, such as blood in the stools, other symptoms are worth knowing about. There are in particular:
- Pain like intermittent intestinal colic with bloating that can last 1 to 2 days and followed by a fetid diarrheal outbreak (Koenig syndrome);
- Feelings of flatulence, heaviness, abdominal bloating;
- Alternating diarrhea and constipation;
- A change in general condition (fatigue, lack of appetite, particularly for meat, weight loss, low-grade fever);
- Hypochromic anemia (reflecting occult bleeding);
- Traces of black blood in the stools (melaena);
- Emissions of red blood or mucus during or after bowel movements…
A lost fight against illness
As soon as the diagnosis was announced, Kevin began emergency chemotherapy. But the disease is already too advanced and the treatment fails. The man, who weighed nearly 90 kg, lost more than 35 kg in a few months. Today he can no longer stand without help.
His wife, devastated, wants his story to alert the general public to the importance of early detection. “If you have a stomach ache, get it checked. And most importantly, don’t let anyone minimize your pain“.
This story once again highlights the importance of screening. The latter is aimed at women and men aged 50 to 74. Since 2015, it has been based on a simpler and more sensitive immunological test. And this year again, several mobilization campaigns encourage those affected to participate, because too often, the disease is detected at an advanced stage, reducing the patient’s chances of recovery.