Man's 'intolerance to bread and beer' was actually something much more serious

ROB MCPHERSON, 39, WAS SUFFERING FROM STOMACH PAINS, DIARRHOEA AND NAUSEA BUT HE DIDN'T WORRY THAT HIS SYMPTOMS WERE ANYTHING SINISTER UNTIL HE WAS RUSHED TO HOSPITAL 09:23, 20 May

2025Updated 09:23, 20 May 2025 A bloke who started getting gut-wrenching stomach pains, the runs and feeling queasy was worried he might be developing an intolerance to his favourite foods.

Rob McPherson, 39, also felt puffed up and found his nosh wasn't hitting the spot like before. But he didn't think his symptoms were a sign of anything dodgy. Rob explained:

"I was just a normal guy playing football every week, going to work as usual and then I started feeling a little bit ill around October time. I was getting cramps for no particular

reason. "I thought I was maybe allergic to something or I was becoming intolerant to bread or beer. At the time, I thought 'I hope I'm not intolerant to those because I quite

like my beer and my pizza'. The stomach cramps turned into bloating as well. "I was eating stuff and wouldn't be enjoying the food as much." Rob, who's in the

digital media and marketing game, said: "There was one week towards the end of November where I was just in bed for a week. I was off work for a week and I'm never off work. I was

struggling to sleep because my stomach was sore and kept being bloated, and it meant that I was losing sleep as well.", reports Wales Online. "I had to sleep on my back because the

bloating was so bad. I was getting a bit tired from that. I was trying to get food and drink in me but it was coming back straight back up again. I ended up not eating a lot as well,

because I thought 'what's the point if it keeps coming back up again.'". "By the Thursday of that week, my boyfriend Sam, who's now my husband, forced me to

ring up the NHS non-emergency line. I thought they'd just tell me to pop a paracetamol or something. But they dispatched an ambulance for me. "Even when they arrived I thought,

'Oh, maybe it's a bit serious but it's not really that bad.' They asked me a few questions, took a few measurements and then said: 'We need to take you to

hospital.' When they said that I thought, 'Oh, okay. Something's seriously wrong here.' It had been a couple of months since my first symptoms." Rob was whisked off

to hospital where a scan revealed a mass around his stomach area that needed immediate attention. He was in surgery within 12 hours. Doctors informed him he would require a biopsy and a

stoma insertion. "I was scared and nervous, but it had to be done," Rob remembers. "After the operation, I was off work for the rest of the month trying to adjust to the

stoma. I was figuring out how it works, how to manage it and to regain my energy after the operation. "I was operated on the first day of December, and three days before Christmas Day,

I received the diagnosis that it was bowel cancer." Rob underwent five weeks of chemotherapy and radiotherapy to shrink the 7cm tumour, which was then excised in July 2018. He then had

to undergo additional chemotherapy to eliminate any remaining cancer. Back in February 2019, Rob had his stoma taken out, leaving behind a scar. He's now speaking out, urging others not

to just grin and bear it with health symptoms, especially as NHS England research shows nearly half of blokes reckon there's pressure to "tough it out". "The scar is a

reminder of what I went through, but I'm quite proud of the scar in that it reminds me that I've been through quite a lot and got through it," Rob declares. He's keen to

spread the word: "I want to tell others not to ignore any worrying symptoms: the earlier you find this, the more treatable it is. I probably left it a bit longer than I should have: I

maybe thought I could tough it out or I could just deal with it. "I was a bit blasé about the symptoms and now that I know what the symptoms are, I keep an eye out for them a lot more

and I'm a lot more aware of them. I think quite a lot of people are worried about causing a fuss and giving the GPs more work. "But that's what the GPs are there for and the

NHS is there for, they're there to help to put people's minds at rest. When you're ill, a lot of things go through your mind. You think the worst things, you think the best

things and until you actually go and get tested and find out, you're wasting a lot of time and there's a lot of worry. "I'd also tell others to talk to family members and

friends, because they can maybe see symptoms more and they can talk you into going to the doctors. The NHS is really busy but they're really good at what they do and they were amazing

for what they did for me. Article continues below "I so appreciated their calmness and professionalism. My nurse was a lady called Debbie and she was matter-of-fact but caring as well,

which is what I needed because any time I was feeling a bit down, she was getting me out of that funk and encouraging me to focus on the positive stuff." In June 2023, Rob was

discharged from the colorectal nurse's care. _FOR THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS AND STORIES FROM ACROSS THE GLOBE FROM THE DAILY STAR, SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTERS._