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In a new update since going public with his diagnosis, the Channel 4 star has warned others to get checked as soon as they think have symptoms, in a bid to prevent it getting worse. The 47-year-old said: “You never really realise how common cancer is until it happens to you.”
Merlin has urged others to learn from his mistakes and not be embarrassed to get tested, as the earlier caught the better.
The much loved First Dates barman ignored typical symptoms of the disease for several months.
Common symptoms can include a persistent change in bowel habit, blood in the poo without other symptoms of piles (haemorrhoids) and abdominal pain, discomfort or bloating always brought on by eating.
Merlin believed a pain in his stomach was from a car accident that happened when he was 20, so didn’t think to get checked at first.
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By the time he reached the doctors for a test, his cancer was at stage three.
He was then told he had a 75 per cent chance of living beyond five years.
On why he took his time going to get tested, he told The Sun: “It was that typical male reticence thing of going, ‘Oh I’m fine’, ‘it’s nothing really’, ‘I’ll be alright.’
“I tried to convince myself that the pain just wasn’t important.”
The First Dates star keeps his fans up to date with his progress on his Instagram page.
In July, he shared a picture of himself from his hospital bed telling his 123,000 followers that he hoped the visit was his last for a while.
“Minor day surgery for some complications with my anastomosis following a Low Anterior Resection in April,” he added.
“The #CancerTreatment journey is long, and often painful and ugly. I couldn’t do it without my family either.”
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