Comedian Mark Steel diagnosed with cancer after noticing lump whilst shaving

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Comedian Mark Steel has revealed he has been diagnosed with cancer after spotting a lump on his neck. In his column, he explained that he noticed his neck "looking much bigger than normal" while he was shaving.He said: "I had to look from several angles before I believed the mirror – the first thought, when you notice a large abnormality on your body, is to assume the mind has made a mistake.""Maybe the reflection is distorted by an eclipse of the moon or the northern lights, or maybe I’ve confused my left gland with my thigh."After searching the internet, he believed it was just an infection and ignored it for two weeks but as time went on the size of his neck got bigger and he ended up booking an appointment at the doctor.He said: "The following week I was in the doctor’s office, talking in the blokey way that men often talk to a doctor, saying ‘I’m sure it’s nothing, I‘m sorry for coming’." After being checked over by the doctor, Mark was referred to the hospital for a scan.

The hospital then sent him for a biopsy after getting concerned about the 'enlarged' and 'uneven' growth. When a doctor phoned him several nights later, they asked him about his symptoms and Mark realised they were "unsubtle cancer questions", writes The Mirror.Even after his hospital trips, he still hoped that he simply "twisted my neck into a lump by sleeping on a badly designed pillow." Following his biopsy, he was told he would hear back from them within a week.

However, there were no updates after almost 14 days and the hospital explained the lost the biopsy in transit.And shortly after, he received a phone call about his cancer diagnosis.