Ed Chamberlin, the ITV Racing presenter, has opened up about his terrifying health scare that left him in “agony” before he collapsed at work, leading to a devastating cancer diagnosis.
He revealed that he had been experiencing stomach pain so severe that he was reliant on painkillers to get through his television shows. Initially, doctors believed Chamberlin was suffering from indigestion. However, after collapsing, he was rushed for emergency tests where doctors discovered an “avocado-sized” tumour in his stomach.
Speaking on The Not Quite podcast, the 51-year-old shared: “I had a pain in my stomach, I was presenting football, I was doing those Midweek Soccer Specials, and my stomach would be agony. I’d be taking Neurofen every few hours to get through a show and I went to my local GP and said I have this really sore stomach, which I’m sure loads of other people said that day and I was badly diagnosed to start with.
“At first, they thought I had, what you take Rennie for, a bit of indigestion or something. So I started taking that, then they thought I had mouth ulcers, in fact, I had a frickin’ tumour in my stomach, the size of an avocado, and I was in deep, deep trouble”.
“I ended up collapsing after a show I did and I was rushed to hospital. Had all of the tests done and I was called into Winchester Hospital, my wife and I went in and I remember the nurse being in tears and I thought, ‘right, this doesn’t look good’, and she said, ‘I’m afraid to say you’ve got a tumour in your stomach’.”
The father of two remarked the chemotherapy caused his hair to fall out, which he found “really hard”. But after finishing treatment, he felt optimistic about having a “great chance of surviving”.
However, Chamberlin landed in serious trouble when an infection raged through his stomach following a previous procedure. He explained: “I ended up having an operation to remove what’s left of the tumour and my whole stomach was infected from when they had done the biopsy through my back.
“They had clipped my bowel, I was in a whole world of trouble. The hardest thing mentally was then thinking, ‘Right, I’m going to get back to work’ and then being told you need an operation and that set me back another three months.”
Chamberlin mentioned how lifting his young son became a challenge after his ordeal, but acknowledged he was one of the lucky ones. Nowadays, at major events like leading the coverage at Cheltenham, he reflects on his fortune in being alive.
He further commented: “There’s not a big show I do, it’s the big shows now because this is 10 years ago now, but the big days I think, ‘Oh my word I’m lucky to be here’, I dodged a real bullet, I’m one of the lucky ones when so many other people, every family is touched by it and so many are less fortunate than me.”
According to the NHS, identifying symptoms of stomach cancer can be challenging as they often resemble other conditions like gastro-oesophageal reflux disease.
Symptoms can include:.
- Heartburn or acid reflux
- Difficulty swallowing (dysphagia)
- Feeling or being sick
- Indigestion symptoms, such as frequent burping
- Feeling full quickly when eating
- Other symptoms encompass
- Loss of appetite or unexplained weight loss
- A lump at the top of your stomach
- Pain at the top of your stomach
- Feeling tired or lacking energy
The NHS recommends anyone experiencing difficulty swallowing, noticing a lump in their stomach, or unexpected weight loss should consult their GP. If other potential stomach cancer symptoms persist for three weeks, individuals are also advised to seek medical assistance.
Anyone who has been vomiting for two days or is uncertain about their symptoms should call 111. For more information on stomach cancer, visit the NHS website.