An intensive care nurse was left 'broken' following a terminal cancer diagnosis after visiting his doctors for 'sporadic' back pain. Raad Islam, 34, suffered pain for two years that eventually left him unable to walk while working on the frontline of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The young NHS worker was left shocked when test results showed he had terminal lung cancer. A year on from his diagnosis, he hopes to raise awareness about symptoms of the killer disease by sharing his own story.
Raad, a non-smoker, began to suffer from back pain in 2019 which got worse throughout 2020. While working through the pandemic, the pain would come and go, but by 2021 he had to take time off work, reports Manchester Evening News. A month later, he was unable to walk and was sent for a scan.
Medics discovered Raad had terminal lung cancer, and he says the news left him ‘broken, like his core had collapsed in on itself’.
Raad said:" “I had been experiencing sporadic back pain for a few years. However, it got worse towards the end of 2019 and was very painful by the summer of 2020.
“There were periods of stability, but by March 2021, it was so bad I could no longer work. A month later and I could no longer walk.
“A scan confirmed the worst, that I had cancer, and the day after, I was admitted to hospital. I was then referred to The Christie for cancer treatment.”
Raad wants to raise awareness of the disease, which is one of the most deadly forms of cancer. In light of his story, experts are reminding people that as much as 20 per cent of people who develop lung cancer have never smoked.
Marie Eaton, lung cancer clinical nurse specialist at The Christie, added: “Lung cancer is one of the most common and serious types of cancer. Around 47,000 people are diagnosed with the condition every year in the UK. Like Raad, between 10 per cent and 20 per cent of people who develop lung cancer have never smoked. Anyone with lungs can get lung cancer.
“Although some lung cancers are not curable, with good treatment and ongoing care, patients may be able to lead a relatively normal life for several years. New treatments are also on the horizon, and The Christie is actively involved in numerous clinical trials for lung cancer.”
The main symptoms of lung cancer include, according to the NHS; a cough that doesn’t go away after 2 or 3 weeks, a long-standing cough that gets worse, chest infections that keep coming back, coughing up blood, an ache or pain when breathing or coughing, persistent breathlessness, persistent tiredness or lack of energy and loss of appetite or unexplained weight loss.
If you have any of these, you should see a GP.
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