Tamsin

Nurse for 40 years, always encouraged my patients to do the Bowel Screening Test

“My bowel screening kit arrived on my 60th birthday and I returned it completed in a couple of days and then forgot about it. I had no symptoms, and a recent blood test indicated I was not anaemic.

A week later whilst working as a Practice Nurse the phone rang, and it was my GP. He said my bowel screening test came back positive and he had booked me in for a colonoscopy.

I was seen about 4 weeks later and on the day of the procedure I was told that I had descending sigmoid colon cancer. My doctor husband and I were in tears. I then went through a series of tests that indicated I had a secondary in my liver. How could this be so? I was carrying these nasty passengers without any awareness of illness.

I have now met my two surgeons who are going to operate on me in one session. Both tumours will be staged after the event, and I will be informed if I need chemotherapy and, or radiotherapy.

My message is I am so glad the age for bowel screening is coming down and thank you to Time to Screen for providing these bowel screening kits.”