Ben Ashworth shares ‘shock’ bowel cancer diagnosis ahead of London Marathon

Ben Ashworth is staying positive despite the latest news on his bowel cancer

A Preston marathon runner has received a ‘shock’ diagnosis in his cancer battle ahead of the London Marathon.

Ben Ashworth, who lives in Broadgate, received bad news last week about a growth in his bowel cancer.

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He took to Facebook to update those who follow his marathon fundraising efforts.

Ben posted: “A scan we had, to investigate the possibility of radiotherapy, has revealed growth in my disease. There’s a tumour on the scar tissue from my previous liver op. There was also a hotspot in my bowel, but I had a sigmoidoscopy (camera up my bum to look at what’s left of my bowel) in the week and it looks clear.

“So it’s not all bad and as I’m so fit our oncologist (the Indian Uncle I Never Knew I Had) is pursuing surgery, which I might not have had otherwise. There’s always a positive to be found! My Indian Uncle is very confident the surgery will help. In fact he’s so full of hope and optimism that he delivered the news with a smile! That tells us all will be well.
It’s a been a bit of a shock, but we’re feeling very optimistic.

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“It’s funny how in an instant I’m suddenly not bothered about my aching post-marathon legs and blisters. Also, we are very lucky to have had the scan, which showed up this tumour. PET CT scans are expensive and the last one I had was more than 3 years ago. This type of scan shows up everything and we could have discovered I was riddled with new tumours, so this is a great outcome. How blessed we are to have found this tumour at an operable stage!

“This is just a bump in the road. I’ve always been aware that something like this could happen, which is partly why I’ve worked so hard to get stronger and fitter. My fitness will help me recover from surgery and if my body burns off all my muscle as I mend, then I’ll just build myself up again.

“The only fly in the ointment is not knowing when the surgery will take place, but hopefully we’ll find out soon.”