NHS Forth Valley’s Employee Director Tom Hart recently took part in the national launch of the Scottish Government campaign to raise awareness of the importance of detecting lung cancer early.
The campaign’s TV advert features football legend Sir Alex Ferguson, who lost both of his parents to lung cancer and explains the benefit of getting checked early – a sentiment shared by Tom.
Five weeks after developing a persistent cough following a chest infection in 2011, Tom visited his GP who then sent him for an x-ray, which detected a non-aggressive form of lung cancer. After 12 days of radical radiotherapy at the Beatson West of Scotland Cancer Centre in Glasgow Tom recovered and returned to work in September 2011.
In April 2013, Tom had another chest infection, followed again by a persistent cough. This time, he waited just one week before seeing his GP. Doctors found a 2cm tumour in his lung, which they were able to successfully remove via keyhole surgery in July 2013 and he was back at work two months later.
Tom is keen to encourage people to visit their doctor sooner rather than later. He explained: “If you suspect something is wrong, visit your doctor. Don’t put it off and listen to your friends and family as often they can spot things which it’s easy to ignore.”
To see a short film clip of Tom discussing his treatment for lung cancer visit the patient stories pages on the cancer section of the NHS Forth Valley website
http://www.nhsforthvalley.com/health-services/az-of-services/cancer/patient-stories
