Teralba’s Andrew Douglas is lucky to be alive.
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He didn’t die because he took a bowel cancer test, which he received in the mail from the federal government.
Only 32 per cent of Hunter residents take the free test, Bowel Cancer Australia figures show.
Most throw it away.
“If I didn’t take the test, I would have been dead within 12 months,” Mr Douglas, 56, said.
He had not experienced any symptoms to suggest he had cancer, but the test came back positive.
“Things like that [the test] I normally throw in the bin, but lucky I didn’t,” he said.
“They sent me for a colonoscopy and found a very aggressive stage-three tumour in my bowel.”
He underwent surgery and a double dose of chemotherapy over six months.
He urged others to take the “simple little test”, which the National Bowel Cancer Screening Program mails to people aged over 50.
The experience led his son Callan Douglas to walk more than 700 kilometres over the past three weeks from Tweed Heads to Nobbys Beach.
His mission, which involved trekking about 35 kilometres a day, was to raise awareness for bowel cancer.
He aimed to raise $5000, but had attracted more than double this.
Greeted at Nobbys by well-wishers, Callan Douglas said the walk was a “mark of respect” for his father, along with his grandfather Jim Hogan who had also survived the disease.
The 31-year-old urged others to take the test.
“That’s what saved dad’s life,” he said.
“They estimated that dad’s cancer was in him for five years.
“That was five years without any symptoms at all.”
He was grateful for the support he received during the trek.
Of his son’s achievement, Andrew Douglas said “I take my hat off to him”.
Bowel Cancer Australia chief executive Julien Wiggins said it was important for bowel cancer patients to share their stories and raise awareness about it.
“People don’t like to discuss it,” Mr Wiggins said.
“We don’t like talking about bowels and poo and going to the bathroom – it kills the conversation.
“Unfortunately it kills many Australians with it.”
Mr Wiggins recommended that people aged over 50 take part in bowel cancer screening – using a test kit – every one to two years.
“The important part is to do it frequently,” he said.
“Don’t wait until it’s too late because bowel cancer often develops without any warning signs.”
Not everyone received the test kit in the mail for free, but it could be bought at pharmacies.
The disease was the second deadliest and second most common cancer.
Lung cancer was the deadliest form of the disease and prostate cancer the most common.
Mr Wiggins said bowel cancer risk doubled from the age of 50.
“Unfortunately this increases with every birthday you have thereafter,” he said.
Using the test kit can reduce risk.
“The earlier it’s detected, the more successful it is to treat,” he said.
The test identifies blood in bowel movements invisible to the naked eye.
“If you do see blood in the toilet, go see your GP – don’t delay,” he said.
Anyone who experiences symptoms should see a GP.
“You’re never too young to get bowel cancer,” he said, adding that people under 50 were diagnosed with the disease.
