Jonnie Irwin’s first terminal cancer symptom explained

Jonnie Irwin on revealing cancer diagnosis

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When news broke that A Place In The Sun presenter Jonnie Irwin had been diagnosed with terminal cancer, there was an outpouring of grief. The much-loved host was told by doctors how his stage four lung cancer had spread to his brain and left him with just months left to live. Jonnie initially knew something was wrong while driving in Italy. 

The presenter suffered blurry vision. After going for tests, doctors picked lung cancer which had spread to his brain.

Speaking exclusively Express.co.uk, Andrea Bille, Consultant Thoracic Surgeon at the London Bridge Hospital which is part of HCA UK, provided further insight into this symptom.

According to Mr Bille, lung cancer in 20 to 50 percent of cases can metastasise to the brain.

“If the centre of vision is affected by a metastatic lesion you may develop a blurry vision.”

The lung cancer expert continued: “When those symptoms emerge most of the time the patient is diagnosed as a stage IV lung cancer.

“The prognosis unfortunately is poor despite today with improvement in brain radiotherapy, surgery and the new target treatment better survival has been achieved.”

He added: “When patients have those symptoms they immediately have to go to the doctor and be seen by a neurologist.”

According to Mr Bille, a CT scan or MRI of the brain is usually arranged first followed by other investigations to discover the primary cancer and complete the staging.

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“If the patient has oligometastatic lung cancer with only one brain metastasis, a more radical approach may be considered combining the surgical removal of the primary tumour, the surgical removal of the brain metastasis and systemic treatment.”

Oligometastatic is a type of metastasis in which cancer cells from the original (primary) tumour travel through the body and form a small number of new tumours (metastatic tumours) in one or two other parts of the body.

“In those cases the prognosis is better,” added the cancer expert.

Jonnie Irwin latest

The TV presenter has voiced fears that this coming Christmas will be his last.

Jonnie has admitted he wants to simply “enjoy it” following his terminal cancer diagnosis.

He credited his wife, Jessica Holmes, with helping him stay positive and focus on creating as many memories as he can with his family when he first shared the devastating news with fans.

Speaking in a new interview, the property expert has discussed how he is approaching the upcoming festive season and paid tribute to his wife and their “perfect partnership”.

Jonnie and Jess tied the knot in September 2016 and have since gone on to welcome three children into the world together – Rex, three, and two-year-old twins Rafa and Cormac.

He said: “I’d be lying if I didn’t say that Christmas will be tricky.

“I’m not saying this will be my last one because I don’t know for certain. I want to be here as long as I can but it could be. And I want to enjoy it and just spend time with Jess and the kids.”

Jonnie also recently appeared on the sofa of ITV Good Morning Britain, opening up about keeping his diagnosis private because of fear of missing work.

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