Over the years I have been affected by bowel cancer, my mother passed away in 2002 and in 2019 my daughter was diagnosed with this insidious disease. Anita was a fit and healthy 47-year-old with no visible symptoms when she was diagnosed.

In January 2019 Anita was diagnosed with diverticulitis and spent part of January and February in hospital.  She was then readmitted in April with a bowel blockage and a grapefruit sized tumour was found. This meant removal of part of her bowel and various other parts of her organs and left her with a stoma bag.  The diagnosis was T4 bowel cancer, six months of chemo followed.

In December Anita was given the all clear by her Oncologist and now has follow up checks for the next five years.

Anita was unaware of the family history as due to circumstances, she only found me in 2015. Although we may have discussed these things, we live at opposite sides of the country, me in Western Australia and she is in Queensland. We have only managed to get together three times and only once prior to 2019.

Many of the stories I have seen on here are concerning a lot of younger people, who therefore, due to age, do not get the free screening kit. My daughter was too young for the test kit, and perhaps this needs to be looked at.

The other thing I have noticed is the number of people who have received the kit and not used it, or have procrastinated and not sent it back until after an expiry date.

PLEASE LISTEN TO YOUR BODY, USE THE TEST KIT, BLOOD IN YOUR POO OR THINGS NOT RIGHT. GET IT CHECKED.