Bowel Screening Time Again !

[mikey4444]

It must be 2 years since I did this last. I know its got to be done but its hardly the most pleasant of tasks is it ?

Does anyone know anybody that has had bowel cancer detected with this little kit before ?

[ubasses]

Not personally, but know of someone in the village who did.
Agree with you that it not a pleasant task.

[jennyjoan]

particularly if you have the oul diarrhoea

[mikey4444]

Jenny please !

[tballrossi]

A friend of mine had bowel cancer detected after using this kit and the treatment he received afterwards almost certainly saved his life.

[mikey4444]

Thanks tballrossi.

[gness]

Mikey.....I have one relative whose cancer was caught early through... as we call them....pooh sticks...x

[vakayu]

A very worthwhile thing to do as a precaution worth the bit of unpleasantness at the time which will save lives.

[shaneystar2]

On the other hand my husbands test came back clear and six months later they removed his rectum and part of his colon as he had cancer .
I haven't got much faith in it now and have also just received mine but I'll do it anyway and send it off.

[Pete65]

Hello Mikey!
I have had several bowel screenings in the last decade.
Each one was clear until the last one, a year ago.
They told me the sample showed microscopic traces of blood, and would I repeat the tests.
I did, and second sample was the same.
They contacted me very quickly and arranged a colonoscopy.
During the procedure no cancer was detected, but they removed polyps from my bowel.
Apparently cancer starts on the polyps, and they are removed as a matter of course.
I have been removed from the normal bowel screening programme, but will have colonoscopies at three year intervals instead.
The surgeon who did the procedure told me (in a very friendly manner) that most people who die of colon cancer, actually die of embarrassment, as they find the whole testing procedure embarrassing and do not participate.

[Graham-W]

I too had a positive test a couple of years ago. Several polyps were removed, during the colonoscopy, which may have become cancerous with time. No sign of any bleeding though. The experts put it down to me eating black pudding the day before the test and the pig's blood passing through. I may have been saved from bowel cancer by black pudding. Not recommended as a treatment though.

[mikey4444]

Pete...I am indebted to you for you honest reply ! I shall continue with my Pooh Sticks !

[retrocop]

I was diagnosed with cancer of the sigmoid colon a year ago almost to the day. I had submitted two poo stick tests previously to Hillingdon Hospital and both were normal. No worries I was told.Having experienced severe constipation I consulted my GP who gave me the poo stick test again plus an ultra scan. All clear. Thankfully my GP persevered and arranged a Colonoscopy. Result. Cancer. Tumour so big the camera could not be inserted to conduct a full scan. That was July. OP exision was 29th Oct.Just finished Chemo 5-6 weeks ago (Capecitabine) IMO the poo stick test is a crock of poo and not worth a dime although others on this site will tell you that it was a good indicator. Never for me. I trust a colonoscopy to give an accurate picture and apparently the opportunity to have one is opening up throughout certain clinics in the country.You should be able to find that out Mikey. You work for the Welsh NHS don't you?

[retrocop]

Graham-W
I never had bleeding either. My wife conducts endoscopys and colonoscopys at Queen Mary's Hospital, Roehampton. She was as gobsmacked as my GP when I got the positive result for cancer. The pooh stick test gave no signs whatsoever so I do not trust them and neither does my wife now.

[slaney]

Retrocop - as I have said to you before, and as anyone who has worked in a gastroenterology unit will tell you, bowel screening is not perfect in that it
only picks up two-thirds of cases of colorectal cancer, and fails to detect one third.
This is because it detects small amounts of blood loss, and not all cancers bleed all the time.
I would not like you to discourage others from taking this test, as in many hospitals at the moment there are patients who have been diagnosed at a far earlier stage thanks to this screening.
When flexible sigmoidoscopy for everyone over 50 is rolled out generally the pick up rate should improve..
http://www.cancerscreening.nhs.uk/bowel/bowel-scope-screening.html

[vakayu]

Well said slaney,every little helps.

[vakayu]

^^^Although I can synpathise with retro's feelings.

[jourdain2]

I sympathise with Retrocop as well and his experience has made me wonder if it worth going though the process (just done it, negative result). I shall continue to do it, however, on the grounds that it is at least a chance of diagnosis.

[retrocop]

Slaney
It is never my intention to discourage any one who wishes to put their faith in this test. I am only giving my personal experience and 3-4 tests did not give a result that was or should of been positive. Two professional NHS workers are not convinced in the efficacy of it in my case. My wife and my GP.
If I relied solely on the result of this test I may well,by now,beyond repair and looking at an imminent grave if not already in it.
3 people out of nine getting a false reading is not too convincing in my opinion.
I know it costs a lot more to give all a colonoscopy but the issue,as I said earlier , is being addressed by various NHS trusts nationally,including my wife's hospital,whereby Colonoscopys will be more freely available as a primary diagnostic procedure. That is what I trust and nothing else.

[Bathsheba]

It wasn't detected for a friend of mine, but I've just received my second test, + I shall do it.

[retrocop]

Further to my last. Mikey asked if anybody knew someone who had bowel cancer. I am answering personally as a one who has had it and the various procedures to try and detect it that failed.
No one else can, thus far, apart from shaneystar2 talk of personal experiences apart from anecdotal.
.