I was diagnosed with Bowel cancer aged 37 after being misdiagnosed with diverticulitis. Misdiagnosis is common in people under 50 because they are considered too young to have Bowel cancer and red flags are ignored.

There is no age limit to Bowel cancer. 

I want to make a difference to make the UK Government work with the NHS to consider screening everyone over 30 annually and enabling over 18’s to opt in the service as well.

This will save lives.

There are approximately 42,886 cases of Bowel Cancer each year. Bowel Cancer has a 54% survival rate, if caught early enough. 

There is no action you can take to prevent bowel cancer, it is considered “The smoking old man’s meat eating cancer” which is simply not the case for everybody. 

My doctors have not been able to identify a single reason why I have this cancer and I don’t fit the bill at all. It is possible it has been present for years even though I am “too young” to have it. 
My blood loss and pain was thought to be a gynaecological issue and I was diagnosed with a Anaemia. Even a perforated bowel didn’t seem to ring alarm bells. Cancer was not a consideration. We now know I was losing blood via stools, without realising and a tumour had perforated my bowel, eventually causing excruciating pain. 

Screening could have detected this and I may not have had to have part of my colon removed in emergency surgery and have to live with a stoma. 
I want it made possible to stop this cancer in its tracks before it gets to my stage or further for anybody else. 

After all, if Bowel cancer develops it can also spread to lymph nodes then onto other organs which can be even more devastating. 

Let’s try to prevent more Bowel cancer related deaths in the future by screening adults aged over 30 annually and allowing anyone over 18 to opt in as well. 

Feel free to follow my journey on Instagram @paloma_the_stoma22