Division_1_June_2024

Are you sitting on your free test kit? If you have an unused bowel screening home test kit sitting around at home, you are not alone. In fact, fewer than 4 in 10 people who receive the free test in the mail from the National Bowel Cancer Screening Program are doing it and sending it on for testing. Why is it important to do the test? Bowel Cancer is one of the most common cancers in Australia - around 400 Gold Coast residents are diagnosed each year. It is also one of the most treatable cancers if it is found early. Bowel cancers found through screening are usually less advanced and are more treatable than cancers found at a later stage, often after symptoms appear. How does the test work? The bowel screening test looks for tiny, trace amounts of blood in a person’s poo, which may be a sign of changes in the bowel. If blood is found in either of the test samples, the next step is usually a diagnostic test, such as a colonoscopy, to check the bowel for any abnormalities. Most people who have blood detected in their samples will not have bowel cancer, but many will have small growths in their bowel called polyps. If polyps are found during a colonoscopy they are usually removed, which prevents them from potentially turning into a cancer at a later stage. Are the tests suitable for everyone? Bowel screening tests are intended for healthy people who have no obvious symptoms (such as bleeding from the bowel, persistent changes in toilet habits, unexplained tiredness or weight loss and abdominal pain). Anyone with bowel symptoms should discuss them with their doctor as soon as possible and not wait for a screening test. How do I get a bowel screening test? The home test kits are automatically mailed to eligible people aged 50-74. They are sent to the postal address registered with Medicare or DVA, so it’s important to keep this address up to date. The tests do have a shelf life, and an expiry date can be found on the back of the kit. If a test has expired, was thrown away, is damaged or never arrived, a free replacement test can be requested online or by phoning 1800 627 701. For more information about the National Bowel Cancer Screening Program, visit health.gov.au/nbcsp

Bowel cancer screening does the heavy lifting for Tony

For most people, the weekends fly by too fast. But for 60-year-old Currumbin former crane operator Tony McCormack and wife Tanya, one February weekend last year could not have dragged any slower.

Tony had just been diagnosed with bowel cancer, after completing a free bowel screening test that was sent to him in the mail. “I had a gut feeling for a little while that something wasn’t right with Tony, but I couldn’t put my finger on it,” Tanya said. “For years I tried to get him to do the bowel cancer screening test that gets mailed to everyone over 50, and he just wouldn’t. But when a kit arrived on his 58th birthday I said ‘Right, Happy Birthday. You’re doing it’,” she said. This not-so-subtle shove from his bride of 20 years could well have saved Tony’s life. “After the test detected blood in my faeces, I went to my GP who referred me to a colorectal surgeon who performed a colonoscopy at Tugun’s John Flynn Hospital,” Tony said. “It revealed bowel cancer at the base of the colon. And as it always seems to be with these things, the diagnosis was delivered on a Friday afternoon and we had to wait until Monday to learn what was next, so there wasn’t much small talk at home that weekend. We were numb and just trying to absorb it all,” he said. Thankfully for the couple, things were about to start moving quickly in the right direction. “Nine months of intensive chemotherapy and radiation started in March last year, pretty well straight after the colonoscopy,” Tony said. “Every fortnight on a Monday the chemo went all day, which gave me plenty of time to think about what would have happened if I had skipped the bowel screening again. The early detection gave the doctors the chance to stop it in its tracks without surgery and today I’m clinically clear and improving all the time,” he said. Tony has also discovered a few things about himself that seem at odds with his knockabout persona. “I’ve discovered my own mortality and I have empathy these days, something I never really had before. I always thought if blokes said they were sick, they were bunging it on, and I didn’t empathise at all with them; it’s just the way I was brought up. The whole experience has brought about a massive change of mindset and recognition of the importance of a support network around me. The chemotherapy and radiation did its job, but it has been the support of Tanya and my two teenage boys, my friends down at my old gym and my former workmates; that has really helped me enormously,” he said. Tony has a simple message for anyone who is sent a bowel test in the mail. “My advice is do the test and if you don’t do it for yourself, do it for your family; it literally takes five minutes and it’s free, so why wouldn’t you? “And if you get the same sort of letter back that I did, it doesn’t mean it’s the end of the world, because it wasn’t for me,” he said. According to the Cancer Council, bowel cancer is one of the most common cancers in Australia and the second highest cause of cancer death. Each year around 400 Gold Coast residents are diagnosed with the disease. If found early, almost all bowel cancers can be successfully treated, yet current national screening participation rates are sitting at about 40 per cent. People wanting further information on the Australian Government National Bowel Screening Program can visit www.health.gov.au/nbcsp

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