On the 1st of March 2019 my life changed forever. After numerous tests for acid reflux problems I was referred to a gastroenterologist.  I had symptoms but I wouldn’t say they were obvious, my head was not screaming something serious is wrong. My blood tests showed I was slightly anaemic and my stool sample showed there was a slight amount of inflammation. The gastroenterologist sent me for numerous tests, one being a colonoscopy. 

I was first in at 8am on Friday 1st of March 2019. I’m not going to go into all the detail, but there I was faced with my utterly unexpected Bowel cancer on the tv screen in front of me. 

We all think we appreciate what we have but until you are faced with death you don’t understand the true value. I can honestly say the world suddenly becomes more beautiful in ways that I never saw before. This is not where I expected my life to go but I am dealing with it. Colorectal cancer has had a lot more publicity recently and that is why I am doing this. I aim to raise awareness in young people as we all know the taboo of talking about anything poo related. Even those of you with kids, it’s fine talking about your kids poo, but who feels ok talking about their own?

I have had a major operation in April called a right hemicolectomy  to remove half my bowel. I am now undergoing chemotherapy to clear any stray cancer cells. This is called adjuvant Chemotherapy and is based on tests on your lymph nodes, if cancer is present in the nodes it indicates that there is a possibility these cells could have travelled round your body so the chemo hopefully will kill these cells. 

Unfortunately from having my initial colonoscopy, I suffered from a perianal abscess (1 in a million chance of happening from a colonoscopy) which has since turned into a fistula, which on its own has been debilitating and will need further surgery. Luckily my bowel surgeon has been dealing with this issue alongside my bowel. I went from being well on the 1st of March to being bed ridden two weeks later. 

 It has been an incredibly difficult few months.  

A week into my chemo I’ve already had enough. But that’s not an option. I’m now on this crazy journey of treatment which is due to finish in September. So what better way to finish treatment than by taking part in Walk Together for Bowel Cancer. It may not be a huge hike but for me right now, 5 miles is enough. Hopefully enough to raise awareness for all my friends on Facebook to take notice that with this disease early diagnosis is key. 

Bowel cancer is the fourth most common cancer in the UK.

Almost 42,000 people are diagnosed with bowel cancer every year in the UK.

More than nine out of ten new cases (94%) are diagnosed in people over the age of 50, and nearly six out of ten cases (59%) are diagnosed in people aged 70 or over. But bowel cancer can affect anyone of any age. More than 2,500 new cases are diagnosed each year in people under the age of 50.

1 in 15 men and 1 in 18 women will be diagnosed with bowel cancer during their lifetime.

This puts me in the less likely to happen category. My aim is to raise awareness by sharing this and to hopefully raise some money for this specific cause. Maybe even get a few people to join us on the walk.  Please let me know if you would like to.

Bowelcanceruk.org.uk has been a life line for me and I beg all of you to have a read and look as it is becoming more common in younger people. 

Thanks for taking the time to read this it would be lovely to see some of you in London in September walking with me. 

Please share on all your pages to help raise money for an amazing cause.