BOWEL CANCER UK

Psychotherapist Marie Adams is used to focusing on the needs of others, and when she discovered she had a tumour in her bowel in October 2023 her first thoughts were how everyone else would cope. “I was in a terrible way, thinking, ‘How am I supposed to call my husband and tell him I’ve got a tumour?’ I also worried about childcare for my eight-year-old son, Jake, as my husband was working shifts and my family weren’t local. I went into a total tailspin.”

A few months before her diagnosis, Marie had begun experiencing frequent stomach pains after routine gallbladder surgery in April. “At first my GP and I just put it down to digestive issues from the gallbladder. But, as time went on, they gotworse. On 11 October, I left work early as the pains were so bad, then I was sick and it smelled absolutely vile.” Her husband called an ambulance and she was taken to A&E.

“I was given strong painkillers and they said they needed to do an ultrasound of my stomach. Although I had a feeling things weren’t right, I tend to look on the positive side, so I was ringing my husband from A&E saying, ‘Don’t worry, I’ll be fine. Just make sure you pick up Jake from school.’” At midnight, Marie was told the scan showed she had a tumour in her small colon that was blocking the entire colon. “It was a massive shock. When they used the word ‘tumour’ my heart sank, but they were very careful not to mention cancer.”

The following morning, Marie was the first person in surgery. “The operation was incredibly invasive – they had to cut me from my breastbone to my groin to get the tumour out, and they cut some of my bowel out as well – and they originally estimated I would be in hospital for at least three or four weeks.

“It was a very difficult time for my husband, havingto look after everything, especially as our son has dyspraxia, a visual impairment and ADHD, so has always needed a bit more care. My husband ended up leaving his ob, as they weren’t very understanding and had to take a lower paid job.

“We wanted to protect our son too, so I asked my husband not to bring Jake to the hospital while I still had tubes coming out of me, so I didn’t see him for seven days, which was agony. I was adamant I was going to get myself well quickly and back home, and I ended up being discharged two weeks after the surgery.”

At the beginning of November, Marie went to see her consultant for the results of her tumour biopsies. “I was feeling quite positive, as I remember being told at some point after surgery that they were confident they had removed whatever was in there, and it looked like it could have just been stage 1. I had started to do a bit of research and found that with stage 1 no more treatment is necessary once it is removed, so I felt very hopeful it was all gone.

“To my shock, the consultant confirmed it was cancer, but it was actually stage 3. He said it had infected five of my lymph nodes, which they’d also cut out, but with anything that’s started going into the lymph nodes they need to make sure the cancer they can’t see – which could be in the bloodstream – is wiped out by chemotherapy. That was the first time chemotherapy had been mentioned and it was a massive wake up call.”

One of the things Marie has been very grateful for is the support and information provided by Bowel Cancer UK. “I was given a Macmillan nurse when I was going through treatment, and she mentioned Bowel Cancer UK and said they had a great website, so I checked it out. There was information about different treatments, finances and all sorts of things, which answered lots of questions I had as well as things I hadn’t even thought about yet. Themore information I have on things, the better and less anxious I feel, so having access to proper, accurate and robust information was so important to me.

“I also used the forums on the website to glean information from others who were having the same chemotherapy treatment. I was interested in reading about the side effects, symptoms, how they were dealing with it and what routine they were in to arrange things around treatment.

“Having cancer can make you feel very isolated and like you’re completely on your own at times, which was a difficult thing for me, as I’ve always been surrounded by really supportive, amazing people, but there were worries and concerns I had that I didn’t want to talk to them about in case it made them panic. There was comfort in reading others’ experiences on the forums and the stories on the website of people who had had the same treatment and come through it. It helped me not to feel so alone and that I was surrounded by people who understood.”

THE CANDIS BIG GIVE AMOUNT RAISED: £60,000

• Bowel cancer is the fourth most common cancer in the UK, and every 12 minutes someone in the country is diagnosed with the disease. Bowel Cancer UK saves lives and improves the quality of life of everyone affected by bowel cancer by funding research, campaigning and supporting those affected by the disease.
• The money raised in the Candis Big Give will help the charity continue creating high-quality, up-to-date and medically accurate health information for people at risk of developing bowel cancer or living with bowel cancer, helping them make informed and empowered decisions about their treatment and care.
• The charity makes sure the information it provides is clear by writing in plain language, not using acronyms and trying to explain medical clinical terms and words.
• It also makes sure that information is scientifically accurate and up to date by working with healthcare professionals, researchers and volunteer reviewers, including people with bowel cancer, family and friends, and ensures all its health information is updated every two to three years.
• Visit bowelcanceruk.org.uk to find out more.