Concerned Scots dad saved son's life after 'luckily' spotting sign of cancer

dailyrecord.co.uk:

A chance find by a concerned Scots dad led to saving his son's life after he was diagnosed with testicular cancer.Alistair Howells, who has Down's Syndrome, was getting help from his family when taking a bath last summer when they noticed an abnormality.

The Howells first thought the 26-year-old had a testicular torsion but dad Mark didn't want to take any chances and headed straight to A&E at St John’s Hospital in Livingston.After being refereed to the Western General Hospital in Edinburgh he was diagnosed with testicular cancer and Alistair was quickly put on a programme of chemotherapy to tackle the illness.

However, even after four rounds there were signs the cancer had spread to his lymph nodes in his abdomen and so he was sent to Queen Elizabeth University Hospital (QEUH) in Glasgow for specialist surgery in May.

Mark fears that fears that had they not spotted the issue on time, he might not be here today.He told the Record: "It’s a fine balance between giving a young man his privacy and dignity and checking his health as a watchful given that he can’t do so himself."But on a Friday evening we were having a bit of a battle with him getting into the bath which was not unusual, so my wife and daughter were helping him out."They both noticed that something was right as one of his testicles was very enlarged."That's when they called for me to ring NHS 24 but I took one look and said we're going to A&E."Following a scan, Al was diagnosed with testicle cancer and there was concern that it had spread to his stomach and shoulder."The timing was crucial that we found it but entirely good fortune.”It’s not the first time Alistair has faced adversity, having undergone multiple heart operations since the age of five months.Ho