Bowel cancer: ‘If I hadn’t done the test, I wouldn’t be here’

Two years ago, when Nicky White was 63 years of age, he completed a free, home test kit (FIT test) which looks for blood in the stool which is not visible to the human eye. The test indicated that there was blood present and so further examination was recommended.

He had a large cancerous growth in his colon.

“I got the FIT kit through the post in February, 2020, and as I was going to Lanzarote for a holiday a few days later, I decided to put the kit into the press and asked my wife, Catherine to remind me to do it when we got back,” he says. “I had done a test when I was 60, so was pretty familiar with how it worked, but after coming back from holidays, the Covid restrictions were beginning and we forgot about it for a few weeks.

“Then when I did do it, I just sent it off and didn’t think any more about it as my previous test had been clear – and I didn’t have any symptoms at all.”

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A week later, the retired post worker got a call from a BowelScreen nurse (BowelScreen is Ireland’s national bowel screening programme) informing him that traces of blood had been detected in his sample. However, because of the pandemic, it would be a number of weeks before a colonoscopy was available.

“I still had no symptoms so just kept working away and forgot about it,” he says. “Then on May 20th, I was finishing my postal round when I got a phone call from the nurse who said I had an appointment for a colonoscopy in six days. She asked if I had any pain and it was then that I remembered that I had been to my GP recently about an uncomfortable feeling in my stomach. It was a darting pain every now and then, especially when I would bend over to lift parcels out of the back of the van. But I didn’t associate the pain with the blood in my stool.”

On the day of the procedure, Nicky’s wife brought him to hospital, where he was awake throughout the process and was able to watch what was going on. He did notice a mass on the screen, but at this point he still had no idea that there was something seriously wrong.

“During the colonoscopy, I could see something big on the screen that the doctor was injecting with dye,” he says. “Then when I was in the recovery room afterwards, having a cup of tea and some toast, the doctor pulled over a chair and told Catherine to sit down, so I knew then there was something wrong. He said I had bowel cancer and I asked him if that was what he was putting the dye into and he said, yes, and that the tumour was about a foot long.

“I get emotional now when I think about that moment. My wife had gone through breast cancer 10 or 12 years earlier and I knew that I was facing surgery and chemotherapy and possibly radiation therapy as well. So, when we got home I went to bed and wouldn’t talk to anybody as I wanted to get my head around it. But, eventually, after a few days, I told Catherine that I was going to fight it. I didn’t know what to expect, but I had been an inter-county GAA referee for 14 years and had the honour of refereeing a couple of All-Irelands in Croke Park – so even though I had put on a bit of weight since then, I was still a fit man.”

A date was arranged for the Wexford man to have surgery and on July 9th, 2020, he was admitted to hospital to have the tumour removed. He then underwent a course of chemotherapy and, thankfully, the cancer was eradicated. Today, he is doing well, but says if he hadn’t participated in the screening programme, things may have turned out differently. “I was in hospital for 12 days (after the surgery) and they took about 16 to 18 inches of my bowel to make sure they had got it all.

“I was put on six months of chemo to ensure they killed off any cancer that might have been in my bowel wall – and while I flew through the first few sessions (of chemo), I was in my GP surgery for a blood test, when I thought I was having a heart attack. This turned out to be clots in my lungs – so along with the chemo I then had to inject myself with blood thinners every day.

“Now, although I wouldn’t be as strong as I was, I can feel myself getting stronger all the time and really do feel well. I lost about 12kg during the chemo as I couldn’t taste anything, but since finishing it I can’t stop eating and I’ve put on 14kg. I missed a year of work during treatment so I decided to retire and now I can pick up the grandkids from school. The doctors have said they will see me every six months for five years and then I should be on the pig’s back in my recovery.

“I was told that if it (the cancer) had been found six months later I wouldn’t have been having an operation, that’s how bad it was. So the day I retired, there was a presentation with 50 people and at the end of my speech I said, ‘When you get to the age of 60 make sure you have the stick test – if I hadn’t done it I wouldn’t be here. When you get the letter through the post don’t be afraid to do it and don’t throw it in the bin.’ Everyone said afterwards that they appreciated me saying that. I hate to think what would have happened if I had left my test in the cupboard and forgotten about it altogether. Luck was on my side.”

Fact Sheet

• – April is Bowel Cancer Awareness month and health experts are urging everyone to be aware of the symptoms and avail of any opportunity for health screening.
• – For the vast majority (approximately 95 per cent) of people, the FIT will be the only test required while the remaining 5 per cent, will be referred for a colonoscopy. But despite the fact that 91 per cent of people who are eligible for the free test are aware that screening is an effective means of identifying a cancer risk, almost one fifth (19 per cent) said they feared the process, with some feeling embarrassed about what it entailed.
• – The latest published figures from BowelScreen show that the programme had an uptake rate of 41.9 per cent and health officials are urging anyone, who is eligible, to avail of the test – which is quick, straightforward and could make all the difference to cancer outcomes.
• – Around 2,800 people are diagnosed with bowel cancer in Ireland each year.
• – Of these, approximately 300 (approximately 11%) are diagnosed in people screened by BowelScreen.
• – It is the second most common invasive cancer in men. For women it is the third most common invasive cancer, with a higher incidence than cervical and lung cancer.
• – About 1,000 men and women die of bowel cancer each year in Ireland. The number of new cases is expected to increase significantly over the next 10 years, due mainly to an increasing and ageing population.
• – Screening offers the chance for early detection - before cancer develops or when there are no symptoms - which means treatment is often more effective than if diagnosed later.
• – Every year over 3,000 people have pre-cancerous growths (known as polyps) removed as a result of bowel screening. This can prevent cancer from actually developing in the first instance.
• – Everyone aged 60-69 years is urged to check they are on the bowel screening register by visiting bowelscreen.ie, or by calling the Freephone number 1800 45 45 55 . Once registered you will be sent an invitation to take part in screening, it will be followed by a FIT test delivered to your home in the post.