Lighting a fire under kidney cancer

It is with deep sadness that we have to say that Arron lost his fight and passed away in March 2023. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends-

Kidney Cancer UK

 

I am Arron Jepp and I work for Hampshire & Isle of Weight Fire & Rescue Service. I love running, keep pretty fit, enjoy a great social life, and have a wonderful fiancé, Dawn.

I also have kidney cancer.

I am writing this brief blog to mark Kidney Cancer awareness Week 2022.
I was diagnosed with kidney cancer in October 2021, and sadly it has now metastasised. When I was diagnosed, I didn’t show any symptoms or feel unwell…… or so I thought. So, if I can help one person then this post will have been worth it.

Kidney cancer is the seventh most common cancer in the UK and can often be successfully treated if you catch it early on, I didn’t.

There are early warning signs of kidney cancer, I had four of them. But I found other reasons or excuses as to why I had these what I saw as minor health issue and it wasn’t until I grouped them together that I realised that all the signs of kidney cancer were there.

• Blood in the urine
• Persistent low back pain or pain in the side between the ribs and hip bone
• Blood abnormalities – low (anaemia) or high red blood count (polycythaemia)
• Tiredness and constant fatigue
• Weight loss and/or loss of appetite

It’s a fact that the sooner kidney cancer is detected, the easier it is to treat. Regular routine check-ups are advisable as many kidney cancer symptoms are hardly noticeable in the early stages so identifying this, or any cancer, before it spreads is critical.

Arron and Dad Norman

The purpose of this post is to say; please, please get yourselves checked out. I left it too long, my pig ignorance stopped me from going to the doctors and look where that got me.

The only reason I contacted my doctor–- in the first place was due to an unusually elevated heart rate and even then, I contacted them via email! What really got me moving was the incident when footballer Christian Eriksen died and was brought back from dead on the football field following a heart attack. This scared the living daylights out of me. Even following my visit to the doctor, I was still not diagnosed for another 3 months.

So, if this post helps one person, I will be happy.

Get check for peace of mind… and check your smoke alarms, too! 😉

Arron with his Watch

Arron