A Newcastle man tragically passed away from cancer just three months after mistaking his stomach pain as a sign of ageing.
Dave Smith, 58, had been experiencing abdominal discomfort and changes in his bowel movements for over a year before he decided to see a doctor in 2023.
He had some tests to check if he was having gut-related issues – but they came back negative.
It wasn’t until January, when he woke up in the middle of the night fearing he was having a heart attack, that tests discovered multiple tumours on his liver and pancreas.
After being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in February, Dave lost four stone in just two months and made the decision that he was too ill to undergo chemotherapy.
He sadly passed away at home just two months later.
His wife, Rachel, a 36 year old biologist, is now hoping that her husband’s experience will encourage others to take their health more seriously and raise awareness about the “minor symptoms” that could potentially help detect this deadly disease early.
She said: “Dave is one of those who never got poorly. His health was something that I never worried about.
“But Dave’s blase attitude to his health cost him his life.”
Rachel first noticed ‘changes’ in his bowel movements around two and a half years ago when the smell became noticeably worse.
But then she began to notice a change in her husband’s physical appearance and he often complained about indigestion. “There was a 23-year age gap between us but he was very, young looking man. Then in the last year, I really started to notice that he was just looking older,” she said.
Rachel became concerned when her husband, who usually had a big appetite, stopped finishing his meals. After an initial visit to the doctor ruled out bowel cancer, a second suggested he likely had diverticulitis, a condition that can cause abdominal pain and commonly affects people as they get older.
It was later found that he had pancreatic cancer, dubbed the “silent killer”, which kills about 10,000 Brits every year.
