131 Days After Lockdown : Sunday 3rd August, 2020

PUT YOUR POO IN THE POST  &  COP A FEEL

What a lovely Sunday afternoon

First visit from Damien & Karen since Karen's personal lockdown sometime ago.  And they bought their very cheeky little chappy with them 'Murphy'

Before posting this I discussed whether I may add the post that Karen added to her Facebook and she kindly agreed, wanting to spread the message.  Many of our friends and family have gone through or indeed are still dealing with the disease. The message is simple, even now with Covid-19 in our midst, be aware of your body and make sure to take advantage of any health screening you may be offered

This is a long post, but please do not skip this part and go straight to the details of lunch at the bottom

Karen  -  It’s been a while since I’ve given everyone an update and this is because healing from the lung operation has been complicated due to an infection and also the results weren’t as I had hoped.
During the operation the surgeons removed 8cm of my lung. Unfortunately the pathology revealed the breast cancer had indeed spread to my lungs as had been feared. It was decided to pause chemotherapy and instead re-scan me. Today I had results from my latest pet scan which reported no evidence of disease (NED) in my body. My right lung shows inflammation and this needs to be monitored but for now I can focus on rest and healing. Fingers crossed I will be NED for a long time!
I feel in debt to the NHS for the outstanding care I received and for doing everything possible to save me from this dreadful disease. It is truly remarkable how kind and sensitive all in my clinical team have been towards me. I owe my life to these wonderful people.
Finally, it felt important for me to share this aspect of my life with you publicly as I hope by doing so it will remind you all to prioritise self-care and to regularly check your bodies for any changes etc. Please go and see your GP if something does not feel right. I never thought this could ever happen to me and hope by sharing my story with you all that it can make one of you go and follow up on health checks, tests, mammograms, smears you may have been putting off. I have learnt the best of bad news can be knowing that something has been caught early.

Please feel free to contact me if this has brought up any issues and other than that I hope you all have a good week.

And I would like to add this from my post from three years ago:

11 WEEKS FROM DIAGNOSIS TO RELIEF – OR "PUTTING YOUR POO IN THE POST"
When asked please take part in any health screening.

This is the point of this post and I would like to get the the message across loud and clear.

On the 16th June 2017 (11 weeks ago) I was invited by the NHS for a colonoscopy. This followed the NHS screening service, or as I call it “Putting your Poo in the Post”. This was the second time for me having previously sent a sample 2 years ago with nothing found. In the UK men and women are invited to join the screening program from the age of 60, 55 in Scotland.

The colonoscopy showed a large tumour in my Sigmoid Colon. I have to stress that I had absolutely no symptoms whatsoever and felt perfectly fit and well. So in the 2 years between screenings the tumour had developed.

Following various tests and scans Bowel Cancer was confirmed and an operation to remove it was needed. Fortunately, this was performed laparoscopically and not only is the recovery time reduced my 6 pack will not be so badly affected!

The operation was performed on the 4th August,2017 (7 weeks after the first finding) and on the 4th September, 2017 I received the good news that it has all been removed and no further spread of the disease. So now some regular check-ups and scans and all should be well. This means no chemo or radiotherapy.

Why am I telling you this? Because .... When asked please take part in any health screening.

The statistics are that only 40% take the opportunity to return the screening test. According to Bowel Cancer UK (but I am confident the same applies worldwide):  Bowel cancer is the fourth most common cancer in the UK and the second biggest cancer killer. There are currently more than 235,000 people in the UK living with or after bowel cancer and over 40,000 people are diagnosed each year. Bowel cancer incidence is strongly related to age. Approximately 95 per cent of cases are diagnosed in people over the age of 50. However, there is a growing proportion of younger people being diagnosed with the disease.

Bowel cancer can be treated using a combination of surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy and, in some cases, biological therapy. If diagnosed at the earliest stage, bowel cancer can be treated successfully, with nine out of ten people surviving for more than five years. However, only one in ten people are diagnosed at this stage.

So, to put it quite clearly, had I not put my poo in the post and attended the invitation for a colonoscopy I would still be completely unaware of the cancer growing in my bowel.

It would have undoubtedly spread and then who knows what the outcome would have been.

In an incredibly short period of time, 11 weeks (or 13 weeks if you include the original posting of the poo) my life has been turned around with the happiest of results so…..

When asked please take part in any health screening.

Early detection of any disease means vastly increased chances of full recovery

Thank you - and thanks to the staff at Ipswich Hospital

Appetiser: Hot Smoked Salmon, Pumpernickel Bread, Lemon Mayonaiise, Pea Shoots

This is a perfect appetiser or served as a main course for lunch.  This took advantage of using the Monolith that had been cooking the pork

Lunch: Roast Belly of Pork, Maakouda Batata (Moroccan Potatoes), Warm Cauliflower & Pomegranate Salad

Slow roasted, 5 hours in total. Crispy Crackling

Dessert: Cherry Pavlova. Maggie tried a new twist on the pavlova, soft brown sugar.  It worked but doubt it will be tried again