Woman who thought she just had jet lag after Australia trip left devastated
31.03.2022 - 15:05
/ manchestereveningnews.co.uk
A Timperley pensioner returned from a trip to Australia and felt tired.
Valerie Thompson had lost a bit of weight during her holiday, but thought nothing of it and put her exhaustion down to jet lag. Before her trip she had completed an at-home cancer screening test sent through the post by her GP and had almost forgotten about it by the time she arrived home.
But when her results came back, the worst was confirmed – she had bowel cancer. Valerie said: “I wouldn’t be here if I had ignored the home test kit for bowel cancer.
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"I had no symptoms and was going to throw the test away when it came through the post. I decided to do it and then headed on holiday to Australia.
“Feeling a bit tired on my return – which I assumed was jet lag – and having lost a bit of weight which I thought was due to endless walking and a different holiday diet, I was diagnosed with bowel cancer.”
Over the last two years, Trafford GPs have witnessed an 85pc increase in lower gastrointestinal cancers across the borough and are now urging patients to complete ‘life saving’ bowel cancer screening tests at home.
As part of the NHS bowel cancer screening programme, patients aged 50 to 74 are automatically sent a simple home testing kit every two years from NHS England.
The test checks small faeces samples for any amount of blood which could be caused by cancer. Valerie was one of the lucky ones in that her condition was found early. Her husband was sadly not so fortunate.
She said: “I underwent a colonoscopy and chemo and I have been lucky: if I had ignored the test, the bowel cancer may not have been picked up early and I may not be here today.
“Sadly my