It sat on the coffee table in her living room for weeks: the letter Alice Shiels got offering her a bowel screening home-testing kit. Between the ages of 60 and 69 it was offered free to her as part of the national BowelScreen programme.
She admits that she felt a bit squeamish about doing the test. “It was silly, really, because the test is so simple. Doing it four years ago saved my life,” Alice says.
She admits to ignoring the invitation letter about the test initially, though. “It sat there on the coffee table and I wouldn’t throw it out, but I didn’t want to do it, so one day my husband said:
Will I put this in the bin?
And I said: ‘Yes, go on.’ He was going out the door when I reconsidered and said: ‘Here, come on, I’ll ring them and get the pack.’ I rang the BowelScreen office there and then and asked them to send out the kit.”
Alice then received the kit, followed the simple instructions and returned the tiny sample in the special container and envelope. “You get a little screw-top container with a spatula,” she says. “You only put a tiny quantity into it, fasten it and put it in the special envelope. It only takes a few minutes.”
Alice wasn’t worried about the results at all, she says. “I thought there was nothing wrong, as I had no symptoms. I was as normal as I ever was any time in my life, regarding bowel habits.”
MICROSCOPIC BLOOD showed UP
She got a letter saying that she needed a colonoscopy a week later, however. “The letter said that blood had shown up in the sample – blood that wasn’t visible to the naked eye.” Alice had an appointment for a colonoscopy in Roscommon Hospital within a week.
“I’d like people to know that you don’t feel anything when you’re having a colonoscopy,” she says. You’re not unconscious, but you don’t feel anything, so it’s nothing to be afraid of.
A colonoscopy is a procedure in which a flexible fibre-optic instrument is inserted through the anus in order to examine the colon.
Doctors afterwards told Alice that they had removed a couple of polyps* and were sending them to the laboratory for analysis.
The request to attend for a scan came the following week. While Alice felt great and didn’t suspect any bad news she felt something was awry when she was told that the BowelScreen nurse wanted to see her. “I said: ‘There’s something wrong, isn’t there? I have cancer?’”
While the diagnosis wasn’t confirmed until a few days later, Alice admits to being "up the walls” during that time. “I didn’t sleep and if I did it wasn’t good sleep – I was thinking the worst all the time,” she says.
Good news came, though, when her consultant told her that, yes, she did have bowel cancer, and it was completely curable. “When I heard the word ‘cancer’ I thought Sacred Heart of Jesus … I didn’t have legs … It was such a relief to hear him say that they would be able to get it all.”
OPERATION WITHIN TWO DAYS
Things moved very fast after that. Within two days Alice had the operation that removed the tumour in her bowel. “Everything went well,” she says.
I didn’t need any treatment. They’d got everything, the surgeon said. I left hospital the following Monday.
That was in February 2014 – four years ago – and everything is fine since.”
Alice was very pleased with how fast her treatment was. “I had my operation over within a month,” she says. “A lot of people complain about the health service, but I couldn’t.”
Alice is very thankful that she did the free BowelScreen test. “They told me I would have been dead in 18 months if I hadn’t had it. If the tumour had got through the wall in the bowel, that was it, there was no catching it – so doing the test saved my life.”
Alice has a scan and colonoscopy done each year since then and everything has been fine. After such a positive result Alice has no trouble promoting Bowelscreen. “I recommend it highly,” she says.
It is so important for people to do this. It’s a lifesaver.
The National Bowel Screening Programme is urging everyone aged 60 to 69 to avail of its free home test. The programme is highlighting that just 40% of the eligible population are taking part in the free bowel-screening programme, despite early detection providing the best chance of survival.
“What’s even more surprising is that men are much less likely to take up the free test, despite the fact that they are more likely to develop cancer compared to women,” says Professor Diarmuid O’Donoghue, clinical director of BowelScreen.
“We need more people to take up the screening offer in order to detect bowel cancer earlier and have better outcomes. CL
BOWEL CANCER AWARENESS MONTH
Bowel cancer is Ireland’s second-deadliest cancer, but is highly preventable and treatable if diagnosed early through screening. Bowel screening aims to find bowel cancer at an early stage in people who have no symptoms. It involves a simple home test called a faecal immunochemical test (FIT) that looks for tiny amounts of blood, which are not visible to the eye, in your bowel motion.
Blood in the stool can be due to a number of causes or minor conditions, but it can also be an early warning sign that something might be wrong. The bowel screening test does not tell you if you have bowel cancer, but it might tell you that you need more tests.
As the risk of bowel cancer increases with age, by taking part in the programme every two years, it is more likely that if bowel cancer occurs it will be found at an early stage, when there is a much better chance of treating it successfully.
Bowel screening may also find other changes in the bowel, such as polyps.
Professor Diarmuid O’Donoghue, clinical director of BowelScreen, says: “Bowel cancer is a big killer in Ireland.
On average, over 2,500 people are diagnosed with the disease each year in Ireland and over 1,000 lives are lost.
But the good news is that bowel cancer is one of the preventable and treatable types of cancers.
“Bowel screening, through a simple home test, can detect blood in the stools, which may indicate abnormal changes in the bowel, which can often have no signs or symptoms. These changes, or abnormal growths, can develop into cancer over time.
“However, if these growths or cancers are caught at an early stage, through screening, there are more treatment options and much better outcomes and the chance of survival is at its highest.”
*Polyps are small growths that are not cancer but, if not removed, might turn into cancer over time. If polyps are found, they can be removed easily.
>> In a nutshell
Key messages
• BowelScreen provides free home testing to men and women aged 60 to 69.• The test is non-invasive, easy-to-use and can be done in your own home.• There are over 2,500 cases of colorectal cancer reported in Ireland each year, according to latest published figures from the National Cancer Registry of Ireland (NCRI).• That’s just over 1,000 cases in women and almost 1,500 cases in men.• On average, there are over 1,000 deaths in Ireland every year as a result of colorectal cancer.• Screening may detect bowel cancer at an early and curable stage.• The test only takes a minute and could save your life.• Regular screening is important – changes in the bowel can develop
over time so getting screened every two years can give you the best
chance of detecting any changes in the bowel. Need to know
• If you are aged 60 to 69, check if you are registered, by calling Freephone 1800 45 45 55 or by visiting bowelscreen.ie.• Changes in the bowel can take a long time to develop and often have no symptoms, so get screened every two years.• All men and women aged 60 to 69 can avail of free bowel screening every two years.• It could save your life.Symptoms
Anyone with any symptoms, regardless of age or participation in the screening programme, should contact their GP immediately if they experience any of the conditions below:
• A change in your bowel habits, such as going to the toilet more often or diarrhoea that lasts for a number of weeks.• Bleeding from the back passage (also known as the rectum) for no obvious reason.• Pain in your abdomen (tummy).• A lump in your tummy.• Loss of weight when you’re not trying to lose weight.Note: A number of conditions can cause these symptoms. Also, changes in the bowel can take a long time to develop and often have no symptoms. These changes or growths can become cancerous if not detected and treated so getting screened every two years can give you the best chance of detecting any changes in the bowel. This is why regular screening is so important.
Read more:
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One-hundred years of healthier women
It sat on the coffee table in her living room for weeks: the letter Alice Shiels got offering her a bowel screening home-testing kit. Between the ages of 60 and 69 it was offered free to her as part of the national BowelScreen programme.
She admits that she felt a bit squeamish about doing the test. “It was silly, really, because the test is so simple. Doing it four years ago saved my life,” Alice says.
She admits to ignoring the invitation letter about the test initially, though. “It sat there on the coffee table and I wouldn’t throw it out, but I didn’t want to do it, so one day my husband said:
Will I put this in the bin?
And I said: ‘Yes, go on.’ He was going out the door when I reconsidered and said: ‘Here, come on, I’ll ring them and get the pack.’ I rang the BowelScreen office there and then and asked them to send out the kit.”
Alice then received the kit, followed the simple instructions and returned the tiny sample in the special container and envelope. “You get a little screw-top container with a spatula,” she says. “You only put a tiny quantity into it, fasten it and put it in the special envelope. It only takes a few minutes.”
Alice wasn’t worried about the results at all, she says. “I thought there was nothing wrong, as I had no symptoms. I was as normal as I ever was any time in my life, regarding bowel habits.”
MICROSCOPIC BLOOD showed UP
She got a letter saying that she needed a colonoscopy a week later, however. “The letter said that blood had shown up in the sample – blood that wasn’t visible to the naked eye.” Alice had an appointment for a colonoscopy in Roscommon Hospital within a week.
“I’d like people to know that you don’t feel anything when you’re having a colonoscopy,” she says. You’re not unconscious, but you don’t feel anything, so it’s nothing to be afraid of.
A colonoscopy is a procedure in which a flexible fibre-optic instrument is inserted through the anus in order to examine the colon.
Doctors afterwards told Alice that they had removed a couple of polyps* and were sending them to the laboratory for analysis.
The request to attend for a scan came the following week. While Alice felt great and didn’t suspect any bad news she felt something was awry when she was told that the BowelScreen nurse wanted to see her. “I said: ‘There’s something wrong, isn’t there? I have cancer?’”
While the diagnosis wasn’t confirmed until a few days later, Alice admits to being "up the walls” during that time. “I didn’t sleep and if I did it wasn’t good sleep – I was thinking the worst all the time,” she says.
Good news came, though, when her consultant told her that, yes, she did have bowel cancer, and it was completely curable. “When I heard the word ‘cancer’ I thought Sacred Heart of Jesus … I didn’t have legs … It was such a relief to hear him say that they would be able to get it all.”
OPERATION WITHIN TWO DAYS
Things moved very fast after that. Within two days Alice had the operation that removed the tumour in her bowel. “Everything went well,” she says.
I didn’t need any treatment. They’d got everything, the surgeon said. I left hospital the following Monday.
That was in February 2014 – four years ago – and everything is fine since.”
Alice was very pleased with how fast her treatment was. “I had my operation over within a month,” she says. “A lot of people complain about the health service, but I couldn’t.”
Alice is very thankful that she did the free BowelScreen test. “They told me I would have been dead in 18 months if I hadn’t had it. If the tumour had got through the wall in the bowel, that was it, there was no catching it – so doing the test saved my life.”
Alice has a scan and colonoscopy done each year since then and everything has been fine. After such a positive result Alice has no trouble promoting Bowelscreen. “I recommend it highly,” she says.
It is so important for people to do this. It’s a lifesaver.
The National Bowel Screening Programme is urging everyone aged 60 to 69 to avail of its free home test. The programme is highlighting that just 40% of the eligible population are taking part in the free bowel-screening programme, despite early detection providing the best chance of survival.
“What’s even more surprising is that men are much less likely to take up the free test, despite the fact that they are more likely to develop cancer compared to women,” says Professor Diarmuid O’Donoghue, clinical director of BowelScreen.
“We need more people to take up the screening offer in order to detect bowel cancer earlier and have better outcomes. CL
BOWEL CANCER AWARENESS MONTH
Bowel cancer is Ireland’s second-deadliest cancer, but is highly preventable and treatable if diagnosed early through screening. Bowel screening aims to find bowel cancer at an early stage in people who have no symptoms. It involves a simple home test called a faecal immunochemical test (FIT) that looks for tiny amounts of blood, which are not visible to the eye, in your bowel motion.
Blood in the stool can be due to a number of causes or minor conditions, but it can also be an early warning sign that something might be wrong. The bowel screening test does not tell you if you have bowel cancer, but it might tell you that you need more tests.
As the risk of bowel cancer increases with age, by taking part in the programme every two years, it is more likely that if bowel cancer occurs it will be found at an early stage, when there is a much better chance of treating it successfully.
Bowel screening may also find other changes in the bowel, such as polyps.
Professor Diarmuid O’Donoghue, clinical director of BowelScreen, says: “Bowel cancer is a big killer in Ireland.
On average, over 2,500 people are diagnosed with the disease each year in Ireland and over 1,000 lives are lost.
But the good news is that bowel cancer is one of the preventable and treatable types of cancers.
“Bowel screening, through a simple home test, can detect blood in the stools, which may indicate abnormal changes in the bowel, which can often have no signs or symptoms. These changes, or abnormal growths, can develop into cancer over time.
“However, if these growths or cancers are caught at an early stage, through screening, there are more treatment options and much better outcomes and the chance of survival is at its highest.”
*Polyps are small growths that are not cancer but, if not removed, might turn into cancer over time. If polyps are found, they can be removed easily.
>> In a nutshell
Key messages
• BowelScreen provides free home testing to men and women aged 60 to 69.• The test is non-invasive, easy-to-use and can be done in your own home.• There are over 2,500 cases of colorectal cancer reported in Ireland each year, according to latest published figures from the National Cancer Registry of Ireland (NCRI).• That’s just over 1,000 cases in women and almost 1,500 cases in men.• On average, there are over 1,000 deaths in Ireland every year as a result of colorectal cancer.• Screening may detect bowel cancer at an early and curable stage.• The test only takes a minute and could save your life.• Regular screening is important – changes in the bowel can develop
over time so getting screened every two years can give you the best
chance of detecting any changes in the bowel. Need to know
• If you are aged 60 to 69, check if you are registered, by calling Freephone 1800 45 45 55 or by visiting bowelscreen.ie.• Changes in the bowel can take a long time to develop and often have no symptoms, so get screened every two years.• All men and women aged 60 to 69 can avail of free bowel screening every two years.• It could save your life.Symptoms
Anyone with any symptoms, regardless of age or participation in the screening programme, should contact their GP immediately if they experience any of the conditions below:
• A change in your bowel habits, such as going to the toilet more often or diarrhoea that lasts for a number of weeks.• Bleeding from the back passage (also known as the rectum) for no obvious reason.• Pain in your abdomen (tummy).• A lump in your tummy.• Loss of weight when you’re not trying to lose weight.Note: A number of conditions can cause these symptoms. Also, changes in the bowel can take a long time to develop and often have no symptoms. These changes or growths can become cancerous if not detected and treated so getting screened every two years can give you the best chance of detecting any changes in the bowel. This is why regular screening is so important.
Read more:
Versatis cut: ‘Nobody deserves to live a life in daily agony’
One-hundred years of healthier women
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