HEALTH & BEAUTY
colonoscopy, but Sarah’s optimism began to fade the longer she sat in the waiting room.
“He was in there for ages so I knew it would be bad news. They’d found a tumour in his rectum which was hidden so it hadn’t shown up on any previous scans. They said it could have been a polyp that had grown over three or four years.” That was last Easter Thursday at 4pm which Sarah says made the news even more incomprehensible as the hospital was technically closed until the Tuesday. How do you go home and carry on as normal with Easter celebrations when you’ve been given that news to digest?
“Instantly we went from a normal couple to one with cancer. Simon was told he’d have radiotherapy and chemotherapy to try and shrink the tumour, they’d operate to remove it and he’d probably have to be fitted with a colostomy bag.
“Everything we loved to do as a couple may be taken away from us – food, drink, holidays, socialising – but naively we were thinking it would just be a rubbish year and we’d get over it.”
While waiting for his oncology appointments, Simon was assigned a Macmillan nurse to guide and support him through his cancer experience. He also made the decision to return to work. But again, Simon’s condition deteriorated to the point where Sarah woke up three consecutive nights to find him in the bath as it was the only way to ease his stomach pains.
On this third night she took him straight back to hospital where doctors performed an emergency ileostomy to remove part of his small bowel.
“Nothing about the procedure bothered him, especially not the stoma bag. He was just filled with hope – and relief that some of his pain had finally gone.” Following surgery, Simon was referred to Weston Park Hospital for further scans and to begin his cancer treatment. But his hope began to wane.
“We called it bad news Friday because every time we went there was something else. First, they planned to start radiotherapy to reduce the tumour before removing it, but found it was too big. Instead, they decided to bombard it with chemotherapy. Simon was told ‘statistically’ he’d have two years to live, but I kept saying you’re not a statistic, we’ll get five more years and make it to your 60th birthday for a big celebration.
“Then they found another tumour higher up in his bowel. Then another on his aorta.” To control his symptoms, Simon was given palliative radiotherapy to give him a better quality of life and more time with his family. That July, he spent three weeks in Rotherham Hospice for pain management, which Sarah says completely altered her perception of hospices being only for end of life care.
“It really is the most wonderful place and the staff couldn’t do enough for us. I was by his side for those three weeks and they nicknamed us Barbie and Ken.” Back at home and the couple were planning to spend Christmas together with family, but when Simon went for a check-up in November, they found something on his chest. He was told he had just weeks left to live.
After spending his last days at home cared for by Sarah and his family, Simon passed away on Boxing Day last year aged 55 leaving behind his wife and the couple’s four grown-up children. “He was, and still is, the complete love of my life. In February this year we would have been married for eight years, together for 12. Meeting him truly changed my life and we shared so many happy years together but it will always hurt that we wont grow old together like we should have.”
Bowel cancer is one of the most common types of cancer diagnosed in the UK, with over 40,000 cases detected every year. Most people diagnosed with it are over the age of 60, but it can also affect people in younger age groups.
Like all cancers, early detection greatly improves survival rates. When diagnosed at its earliest stage, more than nine in ten (92 percent) of people with bowel cancer will survive their disease for five years or more, compared with just one in ten (10 percent) of people when the disease is diagnosed at the latest stage. Bowel cancer survival in England is higher for people diagnosed aged 15-39 and those diagnosed aged 60-69, compared with other age groups. In particular, the introduction of bowel screening for people aged 60-74 is improving rates of early detection.
Anyone aged 75 and over can also request a test kit by calling the Bowel Screening Helpline on 0800 707 60 60.
After being suspended during Covid-19, the bowel screening programme has now resumed. This will be a phased return based on clinical priority and invitations will be sent to people who are overdue a routine screening. If you are concerned about missing a test, please call the screening hub helpline on the number above for further information.
Screening can find signs of bowel cancer early before any symptoms appear and when it is easier to treat. The introduction of the new FIT (Faecal Immunochemical Test) test has made it easier for people to complete the screening test at home.
Currently around six in ten people take the screening test, so increasing uptake can help save more lives.
The screening test is:
• Quick and easy • Just one small sample of poo
• Detects tiny amounts of blood
• Completed in privacy at home
• Arrives automatically in the post every two years
The team at Be Cancer SAFE send their sincere thanks to Sarah for sharing Simon’s story and helping to raise awareness of such a sensitive subject.
Further information on bowel cancer can be found on the following links
www.cancerresearchuk.org /about-cancer/bowel-cancer
www.bowelcanceruk.org.uk
Facebook @BeCancerSafeRB Twitter @BeCancerSafe_RB
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Being aware of the signs and symptoms of bowel cancer would also have a major impact on improving people’s chances of survival.
The main things to
look out for are: • Bleeding from your bottom and/or blood in your poo • A persistent and unexplained
change in bowel habit • Unexplained weight loss • Extreme tiredness for no obvious reason
• A pain or lump in your tummy
Knowing how you feel when you are well is a great way to monitor your health. If you notice changes and you have symptoms that are lasting for approximately three weeks or more, it’s very important to see your GP or other health professional. Early detection of any illness will always give you a better chance of getting the right treatment and getting back to good health.
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