Lucy Devine
A dad has revealed the one red flag that led him to visit his doctor prior to being diagnosed with a deadly cancer.
Chris Kirt, from the UK, was diagnosed with colon cancer last year, after experiencing a number of different symptoms.
Taking to his TikTok page, @official_chriskirt, he explained: "Last year, in August, I started showing symptoms of bowel cancer.
"They were the typical symptoms you'd expect, irregular bowel movements, started to bleed, cramps, urgency to go to the bathroom, not being able to go to the bathroom, all of these symptoms that are essentially the red flags.
Advert
"But there was one that stood out more than anything."
.jpg)
Chris, who was 31 when he was diagnosed, explained that he began to experience bleeding, but without any pain.
"The one red flag that was really worrying was that I'd had zero pain when I was passing a bowel movement and there was blood," he said.
Advert
"When you have blood you expect to have some sort of pain, so if it's bright red, the doctors tell you it could be a pile or a fissure.
"I was losing thick, dark red blood, light to begin with and then dark at the end, with zero pain whatsoever."
In the comments, Chris explained that the blood 'started off small bright red [and] got worse over time to dark red and clots'.
Advert
The Brit also revealed that he didn't experience blood every time he had a bowel movement, and that it was intermittent.
He went on to explain that after experiencing the symptoms, he visited the doctor, who arranged a colonoscopy.
However, due to the wait times, he decided to book a private appointment.
It was during the appointment that he learnt he had cancer.
Advert
"I had been sedated, but I still aware of what was going on," he said.
"I look at the screen and the first thing I see is this big giant snotty ball on the side of my colon.
"I know it's not right. The room goes quiet. The doctors aren't saying anything. I look at the screen and say, 'What is that? That's cancer'.
"They're telling me to calm down, I'm starting to sweat and get stressed out... they gave me more sedation and it knocks me out.
Advert
"I don't remember anything after that.
"I woke up and I was in the recovery room. I see a doctor to my left with a notepad and a few nurses to my right and I immediately knew it wasn't good."
When he came around, Chris was told he had a 5cm tumour in his colon. He underwent surgery to have a third of his bowel removed and is now in remission.
Advert
Chris is now dedicated to raising awareness of bowel cancer and the symptoms to watch out for.
You can visit his TikTok page and learn more about his journey here.