rivers2cross

April 2020 the world has changed in an instant, and we are living in extremely scary times. However, it must not be forgotten that April is bowel cancer awareness month, and I intend to do what I can to help raise awareness about bowel cancer. For many patients treatments have been delayed and postponed causing much worry and anxiousness. Sadly for many people this month will also be a time when they receive a bowel cancer diagnosis. So here is a little of what raising awareness means to me and an introduction to bowel cancer.

It wasn’t until after I had published my first book, Beating Bowel Cancer, in 2012 that I realised just how important it is to help raise awareness about bowel cancer. Initially I thought the job of the book was to raise funds for the Beating Bowel Cancer charity. After a few weeks when the sales started to drop off I was left feeling a little flat, as I wondered what next? The charity were amazing, and they pointed out that as well as raising money, the book was also doing a great job about raising awareness. The penny then dropped! Since then I’ve tried to do as much as I can to help raise bowel cancer awareness.

I have to be totally honest that until Mum was diagnosed with bowel cancer in April 2012 I knew precious little about this awful disaster. Over the last 8 years I have got to know a lot more about the disease, and how important it is to raise awareness. The information is readily available out there but how many people actually actively seek it or are even aware of it? Bowel Cancer UK, the charity which I am now supporting, after the merger with Beating Bowel Cancer, has excellent information on its website just click here, and it is from their website that I have sourced my facts. 

The basic facts are that bowel cancer is the 2nd biggest cancer killer in the UK, and 42,000 people are diagnosed with it each year, and it claims 16,000 lives. Around 268,000 people in the UK are living with bowel cancer.

If diagnosed early at stage 1, 90% of cases can be treated successfully, whereas the figure falls to just 7% at stage 4. At the moment only 15% of cases are detected at stage 1. It is vital that early diagnosis rates are improved if survival rates are to improve. Whilst it is more common to affect people over 50, it is increasingly affecting younger people. 

The symptoms can include a persistent change in bowel habit, bleeding from the bottom, abdominal pain, a lump in your tummy, and unexplained weight loss and tiredness.

Risk factors include a high intake of saturated fats, processed or red meat. Drinking more than 4 units of alcohol per day, being overweight, and having an immediate relative with bowel cancer all could increase the chances of being affected by it.

To reduce the risk eat or healthy diet with plenty of fruit, regular exercise to reduce weight, cut down on alcohol, and be aware of any change in bowel habits. My mum recognised a change in her bowel habit and when she was sent to have an endoscopy the bowel cancer was discovered. She lived with stage 4  bowel cancer for four and a half years before she died in August 2016.

By raising awareness about bowel cancer we can share the message that bowel cancer, bums and poo are nothing to be embarrassed about, and learning the symptoms and acting on them could save lives.

If just one person gets checked out and has their life saved as a result of this month’s raising awareness then the efforts become so worthwhile.