Is your bowel cancer screening kit sitting at the back of a drawer?
If you’re 54 to 74, you should have received your NHS bowel cancer screening (FIT) kit through
the post. That’s because the NHS automatically sends a kit every two years to everyone in that
age range and is gradually including people aged 50 to 53 too.
Out of every 5,000 people who use their test kit, nine turn out to have cancer. But if it’s spotted
earlier, the chances of recovering from bowel cancer are higher.
The test can be done in the comfort of your home and only needs a tiny sample of poo to test for
signs of cancer.
So, dig out the bowel cancer testing kit that you hid in that bottom drawer, or look out for it in the
post. And then put it by the loo. Don’t put it off.
Find out more about bowel cancer screening at www.nhs.uk/bowel.
Phil’s story
I’m a novelist and have a great life. I was 69 and in the best of health, walking the dogs, Nora the Labrador cross and Margaux the Dachshund, at least three miles a day.
I had no symptoms. I did wonder if my poo was looser and a bit more frequent, but the change wasn’t alarming. I tried changing habits, different foods, trying various creams and antacids, but nothing made much difference.
Then I realised I was due my bowel screening test. I’d done the test by post for many years, and it had always returned negative. The test is now very easy and quick to do and I’d recommend it to anyone.
Usually I got a letter a few weeks later saying everything’s fine but not this time. Very quickly I had a colonoscopy appointment at the Royal North Devon Hospital.
I had stage 3 lower rectal adenocarcinoma spreading into two or more local lymph nodes. It had not yet spread elsewhere but was on the point of doing so. All you think is ‘Get it out! Now!’ but it’s a long process.
Treatment was chemotherapy and radiotherapy five days a week, for six weeks.
I had three big operations – a colostomy, an ileostomy and a large part of my colon removed – with a stay or two in hospital for a week or two each time, and long periods of recovery. As the stoma nurses say, ‘We take a year of your life – and then give you back your life.’
My stomas have been removed and I’ve been reconnected, although many people choose not to be.
Looking on the bright side is the most important advice I could give anyone. Be optimistic. Keep laughing. Concentrate on the small happy things. Depression, worry and fear is as much an enemy as the cancer itself.
If you’re nervous about bowel screening I’d say why are you waiting? Don’t wait. This is your chance to take control.
If you’re offered screening, grab the opportunity. It can save your life.
Symptoms or not, put your mind at rest. It’s a no-brainer.
Bowel screening takes a few minutes and the earlier you know, the better your outcome is likely to be. And if you think something is wrong, knowing it and having help from a professional team is better than doing nothing and fearing it alone.
I had one of the worst stages of cancer. Thanks to screening, I found out about it, and with help recovered. Without screening, I wouldn’t have. I’d be dead. With screening, I’m clear of cancer, and I’m here.