“Cancer doesn’t stop because we are in a pandemic”

Thursday 30 April 2020

A local mum and bowel cancer blogger has urged islanders not to put off talking to their doctors about their health because of the pandemic.

The call from Emma Critchley comes as Bowel Cancer Awareness Month ends today.

She was diagnosed with bowel cancer in January 2019 and shared her thoughts on her diagnosis, her first weeks of chemo, and her emotional journey through sickness and dark days on her blog, with the aim of raising awareness of the disease.

Emma also sought to debunk myths surrounding bowel cancer, such as it being an “old people’s disease” or the idea that leading a healthy lifestyle will protect you from getting cancer. “If there was a healthy bandwagon, I was on it,” Emma said. 

While she was told she was free of the disease just before Christmas, Emma is keen to keep raising awareness and to encourage others to talk to their doctor about their poo.

While bowel cancer can be cured when caught early, too many patients wait too long to go to see their doctor, sometimes out of embarrassment, making it the second biggest killer among cancers.

Emma says the advice she issued during last year's awareness month - “Don’t delay going to the doctor... Don’t be scared about dropping your pants! Don’t be shy!” - still stands, even in the midst of the corona virus crisis. 

“Bowel cancer doesn’t stop because we are in the midst of a pandemic,” Emma said. “It's completely indiscriminate. It doesn’t care about your age, gender or wealth." 

“Every single day cancer kills young, old, rich and poor people. It kills people who thought, ‘Cancer will never happen to me.’ Cancer doesn’t wait for anyone, and it really doesn’t care about your hopes and dreams.” 

Emma says that if anyone has any concerns or symptoms - which might include lumps, changes in bowel habits, abdominal pains, blood in your stools, tiredness or unexplained weight loss - they should ring the doctor and get checked.

“Don’t put off going because we are in the middle of a pandemic,” she added.

“GPs are open as usual and they would want you to ring.  

“Some people worry about discussing poo and the fact that they might have to drop their pants. Don’t let embarrassment kill you. The doctor has seen many, many bottoms and they will have listened to a lot of poo chat. Dropping your pants is a small price to pay if it could save your life.” 

“It is so important that cancer is caught early,” Emma continued. “Bowel cancer is still happening and will continue to happen, but bowel cancer is very treatable and curable when caught early.

"Don’t delay. Act now to save your life.”