Bowel cancer: a risk for all
Ihave seen many emergencies that could have been potentially avoided over the last 30 years. One of the most painful ones is a bowel obstruction. The bowel becomes blocked or twisted resulting in an expanding abdomen and pain. This can be caused by a number of things such as scarring from previous operations, inflammation or bowel cancer. Bowel cancer kills more Kiwis than many other cancers combined, with a grand total of 1200 per year. It’s not a competition any of us want to win.
We all dread the big C. It may mean we stare our own mortality directly in the face. Our lives and those who love us are thrown into turmoil as we prepare for appointments, operations, complications, chemotherapy, potential suffering and definite uncertainty.
One thing is certain about bowel cancer - if you ignore it, it will bite and bite hard. You may have a colostomy where your excrement is plumbed to a hole in your tummy and you have a bag you have to empty. I have had many people say they don’t want a camera up their rear end as it’s disgusting. Given the choice I would rather have a colonoscopy camera than a bag and a colostomy any day and I am speaking from experience.
The website has some great advice on avoiding bowel cancer, such as adding more fibre to your diet. Eating fruit and veges raw is best, as boiling them too long can cause up 50 per cent of the fibre to be lost in the process so steam or stir-fry them.
New Zealand deaths from bowel cancer were 35 per cent higher than in Australia for women and 24 per cent higher for men 10 years ago, so we can do better. Some of the ways we can do this are through better screening and earlier diagnosis. It’s important to note that 75 per cent of bowel cancers are curable if caught early.
One of the ways to do this is to not put symptoms such as rectal bleeding down to haemorrhoids or other causes without getting it investigated. Diagnosing yourself is like playing Russian roulette. Another warning sign of bowel cancer is tiredness from the anaemia, which is caused by small leaks of blood from your bowel that you won’t notice. That’s why getting your faeces checked for microscopic blood could save your life.
Abdominal pain, persistent change in the pattern of your bowel habits, weight loss or any lumps in your abdomen could mean bowel cancer and are not to be ignored. If you have a family history of bowel cancer it may mean that you need a screening colonoscopy. My grandmother had bowel cancer so I have had two screening colonoscopies. It’s no big deal and like at least 25 per cent of people these days I required no sedation so I was back to work straight afterwards.
Everyone it at risk. Tragically, a young doctor who had worked in our ED passed away from ISTOCK bowel cancer aged only 33, leaving behind a wife and young child. I hope someone reading this article will go and do something to beat bowel cancer. It may just save their life or the life of someone they care about. ● Dr Tom Mulholland is an Emergency Department doctor and GP with more than 25 years’ experience in New Zealand. He’s currently on a mission, tackling health missions around the world.