"As a paramedic, it's hard being the patient." Iain's story

A diagnosis of bowel cancer is difficult to process at any time of life but if it comes when you feel healthy, happy and on top of the world, the news can be devastating for the person and their family.

Last December, Senior Paramedic Team Leader Iain Duffy was still on a high after celebrating moving into his new house with his wife Andrea, who is also a paramedic. They celebrated Christmas and New Year in their new home and Iain was a year into his two-year secondment as a clinical lecturer at the University of Cumbria. It was during this time that Iain first noticed blood in his stools.

He says: “I remember finding the blood at the beginning of December and thinking, that isn’t quite right. I kind of just got on with my life and celebrating the festivities with friends and family.

“Towards the end of December, the blood became more prevalent, and I knew something wasn’t normal for me. In January this year, I went to see my GP who advised me it is likely haemorrhoids.

“This didn’t feel right to me. I remembered my brother getting sent for bowel screening as he has reached a certain age so I asked the GP if I could be screened. Thirteen days later I had a colonoscopy.”

It was during the colonoscopy that Iain noticed a big lump on the wall of his bowel on the screen.

“I had been having a laugh and a joke with the clinician performing my colonoscopy when the mood changed. I looked at the screen and I saw the lump. It was black and white and to me, it looked like necrotic tissue. They took a biopsy.

“Other people in the facility who had had the procedure the same morning as me were leaving the facility, but I had been asked to stay. The doctor came to see Andrea and me and told us that they had found something, and they needed to test it.

“Whilst the doctor couldn’t confirm the diagnosis at that point, I knew it was cancer.”

Iain and Andrea had prepared themselves mentally for receiving the diagnosis and when they did, it still hit them hard. But Iain knew he had the support of Andrea, his family and his friends and colleagues at team NWAS and in the university. He credits them for getting him this far in his treatment.

Iain went on to have scans and surgery to remove the tumour, which was done by keyhole.

Iain continues: “There was a risk I could have been left with a stoma bag after the procedure, but my surgeon felt it wasn’t necessary. My bowel healed fine after it, but they did also remove 23 lymph nodes in that area to see if the cancer had spread.”

The waiting period for Iain and Andrea was stressful, it dragged on and of course, they worried: “It is hard to train your mind out of thinking that cancer is everywhere.” Iain says.

When they got the news that five of the lymph nodes that had been removed were cancerous, they were devastated. Iain’s oncologist advised the best course of treatment for him would be to have six months of chemotherapy.

Iain is currently on cycle five of eight chemotherapy sessions which has been tough and has left him with a reduced immune system. “I have been getting sickness and diarrhoea, scalp sensitivity, spots on my tongue (like the ones you get in tonsilitis) and severe neuropathy.

“They have had to alter the type of chemotherapy I was having due to the concerns around the neuropathy symptoms. I am now on tablet form and not an IV drip which seems to be lessening my symptoms to a degree.”

Throughout his chemotherapy and to raise awareness of the disease, Iain has been cycling one mile on his exercise bike on each of his treatment days to raise money for Cancer Research. He passed his 100 miles milestone a couple of weeks back with 68 miles to go.

“No matter how the chemo has affected me, I have done the cycle and Andrea has done two miles each treatment day to support me and spur me on. There have been a few times it has got to 10pm at night and we have forgotten but we have got on the exercise bike and done it.

“My take-home message is, I had no other symptoms other than blood in my stools. I felt healthy, I felt fine but please if you spot something that isn’t quite right, push and push until you get the help you need.”

THE STATS:

• Bowel cancer is the fourth most common cancer in the uk and the second biggest cancer killer.

• Nearly 43,000 people are diagnosed with bowel cancer every year in the UK.

• There are around 268,000 people living in the UK today who have been diagnosed with bowel cancer.

• More than 94% of new cases are diagnosed in those aged over 50 and nearly 56% of those aged 70 or over.

• Bowel cancer can affect anyone of any age with 2,600 new cases diagnosed each year in those under 50.

• 1 in 15 men and 1 in 18 women will be diagnosed with bowel cancer during their lifetime. Bowelcanceruk.org.uk

SYMPTOMS CAN INCLUDE:

• Bleeding from your bottom and/or blood in your poo.

• A persistant and unexplained change in bowel habit.

• Unexplained weight loss.

• Extreme tiredness for no obvious reason.

• A pain or lump in your tummy.

If you have any of these symptoms for three weeks or more, see your GP.

For help and support visit: bowelcanceruk.org.uk