It’s a dirty job but somebody’s got to do it – YOU!
16 Nov 2018
Hello LPG Readers,
It was quite a while ago now but I really feel the need to tell you about someone I met when I was walking around Mountsfield Park on Saturday July 7th earlier this year. Just in case you have forgotten that was the day chosen for Lewisham Peoples day this year and many people were offering really valuable information on the day.
I stopped at a stall where the subject of mucky envelopes was up for discussion, although I assure you that there were none on display on the day. I spoke to a lady, Linda Killick, who spent a little time explaining why it is important to do something which is not much fun but which saves many a life.
She was talking about Bowel Cancer and the envelope which, until now, has been sent out to over sixty-year-olds throughout the country. It contains a test where you need to smear samples of what usually goes down the loo on bits of card and then send them back for analysis. This sounds not so nice, and many, with the best of intentions, never get around to getting the job done. But it is a job worth doing.
Please read Linda’s story….
In the spring of 2010 I received a bowel cancer screening test kit through the post. I was familiar with the test as I had done two years before and the results were negative. Collecting samples of faeces (poo!) is not pleasant but it is easy and painless. I followed the instructions and posted off the samples in the well-sealed envelope. I wasn’t worried about the results because I felt fit and healthy, I had normal regular bowel movements, I ate sensibly and was getting plenty of exercise. I have never smoked and was enjoying my retirement after a stressful job. I did not think I was at risk. I still wasn’t particularly worried when a letter arrived telling me there were some abnormal results and asking me to repeat the test. This second test also showed abnormalities. I was invited to meet a screening practitioner at Lewisham Hospital, she talked me through the possibilities and I agreed to have a colonoscopy. After the colonoscopy I was told that a cancer had been found.
Events now moved very quickly, I had a CT scan and blood tests. I met a consultant surgeon who told me the cancer was small and I could hope for a good outcome. In June I had an operation to remove the cancer; some lymph glands were also removed and tested to see if the cancer was spreading. Luckily these tests were negative, so I needed no further treatment (no chemo or radiotherapy). The whole of the colorectal team at Lewisham are fantastic.
I want everyone to have the same chance as me to catch a cancer in its earliest and most treatable stages and so I always encourage people to take the test. Another consideration is that some bowel cancers have an inherited component, one is called Lynch syndrome, Lewisham is one of the hospitals that tests for this; your children and grandchildren need to know if they have an increased possibility of developing bowel cancer, they will only know this if you take the test.
Two unexpected outcomes for me of having bowel cancer were firstly, my long-time partner of 30+ years and I decided to get married and secondly, I realised what a lovely caring set of friends and family I have.
So remember that when yours arrives you really need to get stuck in, do the deed, and send it back.
Linda stressed that she has no medical expertise, but she has been told many a time that if you have to have a cancer then bowel cancer is the best one to have because it is slow growing and treatable, but as with all cancers, the same rule applies you need to catch it early.
It is not an illness that only affects the elderly so please pass this message on to the younger members of your family with the information that if when they go to the loo they see any traces of blood on the loo paper they should get it checked out by the GP. It is hoped that by 2019 there will be an easier to use, more accurate test in the post, but don’t let that stop you from making full use of the current one.
Maureen B
