Summary
The managing director of Cheltenham Town Football Club has urged people to seek medical attention if they are feeling really poorly, rather than to hope that the problem will go away. James Watts has spoken out after suffering acute pancreatitis, which was so severe that he was admitted to Gloucestershire Royal Hospital in Gloucester , where he was treated for a fortnight.
Details
The 48-year-old believes he was close to dying from the illness, which came on suddenly while he was at work at the Robins’ ground in Whaddon Road. The pancreas, which is an organ in the middle of the stomach, helps the body to digest food and makes hormones such as insulin. Acute pancreatitis is a serious condition where the pancreas suddenly becomes swollen and painful.
Official NHS advice is that it needs urgent treatment in hospital. In an online post, the Robins’ MD said: “Following two weeks’ intensive treatment in hospital where numerous times I did not think I would make it, I was sent home on a recovery plan and over the past three weeks I have built myself back up to feeling a lot better, apart from some tiredness.
“What I will say to anyone, if you feel ill do not risk waiting. If I had tried to ‘sleep it off’, I definitely would not be here now.” James, who began his job at the League Two club in June, told Gloucestershire Live that the problem began on September 15 when he couldn’t stop being sick. After initially thinking he might be okay, he decided he needed help and went to the hospital.
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He said: “I feared for my life, I’ve never felt so poorly. “It felt like my insides were on fire. I was so uncomfortable and there was no way to settle.
The only way I could sleep was by having strong medication.” The father-of-two, who lives in Newport, South Wales, added: “I’m urging people – if you have any stomach pain, get it checked out straight away.” James, who was a full-time club music MC between 2005 and 2012, said doctors had not been able to tell him what caused his illness.
But he said he suspected his past lifestyle, when he ate a lot of fast food and at irregular times while playing thousands of gigs worldwide, might have been to blame. Since his spell in hospital, friends have told him that their relatives – who were only in their 40s and 50s – died from acute pancreatitis.
James is now happy to be back at work and feels he had a lucky escape, saying: “If I hadn’t pushed myself to go to the hospital, I would probably be dead.”
Report source: Gloucestershire Live
