Until I lost a friend to stage 4 bowel cancer in December 2022, I knew little about the disease in spite of some high profile cases in the news. It is the fourth most common cancer in the UK. Almost 43,000 people are diagnosed every year in the UK. Around 268,000 people living in the UK today have been diagnosed with bowel cancer. More than nine out of ten new cases (94%) are diagnosed in people over the age of 50.

As I sat at my friend's funeral, little did I know that I too had bowel cancer, with a malignant tumour in the caecum area of the ascending colon that had been pooling blood for a year. It caused acute iron deficiency anaemia which wasn’t investigated until a colonoscopy in June 2023. Naturally it was a huge shock, but with a calmness quite alien to me, I totally accepted the situation and put my positive head into action. I planned for the very worse case scenario to allay any potential future shocks - to the extent of fully writing my funeral so that family, friends and vicar knew exactly what I wanted should the need arise. It was a most cathartic exercise.

I was placed under the care of the Colorectal Cancer Multidisciplinary Team at Watford General Hospital. The next couple of weeks passed in a maelstrom of appointments, scans and assessments as well as meeting my Consultant Surgeon, Mr Cheetham. I had indeterminate lesions on the liver warranting further scans as potential metastasis from the bowel. Surgery was scheduled for Wednesday 5th July. The day before surgery it was a huge boost to be told the liver lesions weren’t cancerous.

I was blessed to be in the safe hands of this wonderful team of human beings - they were professional, kind and compassionate with a sense of humour that I thrived on. I made a swift recovery post surgery and came home just 3 days later.

To my enduring relief all the lymph nodes, blood vessels and marginal tissue around the tumour that were harvested during surgery were healthy and cancer free. Despite its presence for at least a year my tumour was still at a relatively early stage. I did not need any further treatment and was deemed cured. I am under surveillance for 5 years as there is always a small possibility of metastasis, which further scans and colonoscopies should detect.

I know just how fortunate I am. My friend was in my thoughts throughout my entire experience. I am determined to make every second of my life count. One way I can do this is by helping my fantastic Colorectal Cancer Multidisciplinary Team. My fundraising donations for Raise will be ring-fenced for them, for the benefit of others like me.

My challenge in early March is to walk to every hospital that served me during my cancer journey. I will go from Watford General Hospital to Mount Vernon Hospital, Northwood, Hemel Hempstead Hospital, the OSD, Hemel Hempstead, St Albans Hospital then back to Watford to finish. I will cover some 33 miles in one hit, walking solo - hopefully completing it in 9-10 hours. It will be really testing coming just 8 months after major surgery and predominantly on hard road surfaces. I just pray I am having a ‘good bowel day’… as one side effect of the surgery is their unpredictability!

I do this with eternal thanks for my life and would greatly appreciate any support you can give me.