Cancer is scary but doesn’t have to be a death sentence IF you catch it early…there’s #NoTime2Lose
IT'S a scary word, a really scary word.
But cancer doesn't always have to mean death.
Did you know that more people will live for ten years after being told they have cancer, than will die from the disease?
Right now at least two in four people will survive cancer, but by 2035 that should be three in four, Cancer Research UK hopes.
If you've just been diagnosed and are currently in a tail spin, googling stats and prognosis and every latest treatment there is, it’s OK to be scared and worried.
When cancer entered my life I didn’t know what I was facing.
I think it's something that's all too often that has historically been brushed under the carpet.
It’s something that happens to other people.
It surprises me when people are taken aback by my willingness to disclose every intimate detail of my treatment.
I chose to share my story to debunk the myths of what life with cancer “can” look like.
The Sun launched the No Time 2 Lose campaign last week, raising awareness of the signs of bowel cancer and urging everyone to get themselves checked if they fear something's wrong.
As part of that it's important to show that cancer doesn't have to be as scary as you think...IF you catch it early.
The aim for me and the team that keep me alive has always been to ensure as far as possible that my quality of life is still OK.
SCREENING FROM 50 IS A NO BRAINER - IT COULD SAVE THOUSANDS OF LIVES
THE Sun's No Time 2 Lose campaign is calling for bowel cancer screening in England to start at 50 NOT 60.
The move could save more than 4,500 lives a year, experts say.
Bowel cancer is the second deadliest form of the disease, but it can be cured if it's caught early - or better still prevented.
Caught at stage 1 - the earliest stage - patients have a 97 per cent chance of living for five years or longer.
But catch it at stage 4 - when it's already spread - and that chance plummets to just seven per cent.
In April, Lauren Backler, whose mum died of the disease at the age of 55, joined forces with The Sun to launch the No Time 2 Lose campaign, also supported by Bowel Cancer UK and Beating Bowel Cancer. Donate .
Lauren delivered a petition to the Department of Health complete with almost 450,000 signatures, to put pressure on the Government to make this vital change - one that could save thousands of lives every year, and the NHS millions.
We all deserve an equal chance to beat this disease, regardless of where we live.
We know bowel cancer is more likely after the age of 50 - so it makes sense to screen from then.
Plus, it's got to save the NHS money in the long-run, catching the disease before patients need serious and expensive treatments.
It's a no brainer, thousands of lives are at stake every year.
You can still sign Lauren's petition to show your support -
Yes, treatment is tough for any type of cancer and when that treatment just becomes your normal, things become even tougher.
But it’s about working with your cancer (and your team) to enable that new normal - one that is still a good quality of life. And yes you can still drink all the wine!
I only ever saw and still only ever see cancer patients portrayed as someone with a bald head and no smile.
And yes cancer is sh*t. But even in the darkest times, and I use my friend Amy who sadly passed away recently as a beautiful example - she kept her smile, her hair, her crazy eye make and her humour.
We are still in a position where every day we hear yet another story of someone who has tragically passed away from cancer.
More often than not these stories start with a misdiagnosis, before finding the cancer has already spread.
Mine is one of those stories.
And yet, there are so many stories of hope out there, cancers caught earlier in time to be treated.
These people have hope their story will end on a positive note.
Cancer was something they have to go through, yes.
But by doing that, by going to the GP at the first sign something was wrong and getting that crucial early diagnosis they gave themselves a chance at a future.
SUN LAUNCHES NO TIME 2 LOSE CAMPAIGN TO RAISE AWARENESS OF BOWEL CANCER
IMAGINE if a simple test could save more than 4,500 lives every year - and the NHS millions of pounds. Well, it could.
Which is why The Sun has launched the No Time 2 Lose campaign, calling on the Government to lower the bowel cancer screening age from 60 to 50.
It's the UK's 2nd deadliest cancer, claiming 16,000 lives a year, but it CAN be cured - if it's caught early enough.
Fewer than one in ten people survive bowel cancer if it's picked up at stage 4, but detected quickly, more than nine in ten patients will live five years or longer.
That's why The Sun wants to see a simple poo test offered to everyone, every two years, from their 50th birthday.
At the moment, Brits are subject to a postcode lottery, with those living in Scotland screened from 50.
But south of the border in England, and in Wales and Northern Ireland, those tests aren't offered until 60 - resulting in thousands of needless deaths.
Our No Time 2 Lose campaign is calling for:
- the Government to lower the screening age from 60 to 50 - as it is in Scotland
- every Brit to know the five red-flag signs of bowel cancer
I know all cancer patients regardless of the stage at which they're diagnosed, live in a state of fear - a fear of the unknown.
But if I knew I had more chance of living than dying, I'd take that in a split second and stop worrying.
I have to worry how I will be part of that tiny per cent of people who do defy the odds.
THERE'S NO TIME 2 LOSE
Speaking to another cancer warrior, Jules Peters yesterday for my podcast, I was taken aback.
The wife of Alarm front man Mike, Jules said she felt "blessed by her cancer".
How on Earth can I feel blessed by something that every piece of research I read, confirms it's likely to kill me?
But then I'm sitting in the shoes of a late diagnosis. My story and my future are uncertain.
While I'm comforted by my recent scan results, I also know I could be only one scan away from a life time back on chemo.
I can't deny I have a new-found clarity, an appreciation and understanding of how grateful we should all be to breathe another day.
Early diagnosis is the key in all of this.
For pretty much all cancers, if they're caught at stage 1 - the earliest stage - in 90 per cent of cases you'll live for five years or more.
Most specialists I've had the pleasure of meeting agree, prevention and early diagnosis is the key to "curing" cancer.
New treatments are proving their worth and yes without a doubt sending people into remission or managing their cancer for years.
But once cancer makes its way into the lymphatic system and has metastasised (spread) - like mine, chances of longer term survival for all types of cancers plummet.
Even with the most clever drugs and highly skilled surgeons it’s still an exercise in firefighting - I should know.
Researchers have made incredible progress in ensuring survival rates and awareness of breast cancer has rocketed.
MORE THINGS CANCER MADE ME SAY
As a result more and more cases are caught at an earlier stage and survival rates across all breast cancer stages now stands at 80 per cent for 20 years.
But other cancers aren't there yet - bowel cancer is one of them and as such is still the 2nd biggest killer of cancer related deaths in the U.K.
But we can change that.
And getting a minister to say the word poo last week in Parliament was a step in the right direction!