< Back to 68k.news UK front page

'Like winning lottery' How bowel screening saved 55-year-old veteran's life

Original source (on modern site) | Article images: [1]

A Royal Navy veteran from East Yorkshire has described his invite for cancer screening as a "winning lottery ticket" after it saved his life.

Gary Terry, of Market Weighton, has spoken about his whirlwind cancer journey which began when, at the age of 55, he received an invite through the post to take part in bowel scope screening. He now wants to prevent other families from succumbing to the UK's fourth most common form of cancer as Bowel Cancer Awareness Month begins in April.

"I served in the Royal Navy for eight years, I've worked as a prison officer for 30 years, and I've kept myself physically fit all my life with football, cycling and other sports," said Gary. "I had no symptoms at all when the invitation came through the post, but things like this have never bothered me, I'm not particularly shy or squeamish, so I thought, 'What have I got to lose?'"

Read more:Peanut packs get a makeover to raise awareness of common cancer

Gary accepted the invitation in February 2018 and attended an appointment for bowel scope screening within a month. This involved insertion of a thin flexible tube with a camera on the end to look inside the lower part of the bowel and back passage.

This form of screening has more recently been replaced by the FIT (faecal immunochemical test) which can be carried out at home using a small test kit and then posted off to the laboratory for analysis. Gary said: "The team found a small polyp when they did my test, something which - at that stage - wasn't causing me problems and I certainly wouldn't have known about had I not had the test.

Gary Terry, of Market Weighton, during his service as sonar operator in the Royal Navy (Image: hey.nhs.uk)

"I returned for a further appointment with my wife, Liz, and that's when they told us I had bowel cancer." Gary needed surgery to remove the cancer and was scheduled for his operation shortly afterwards.

Still keen to maintain his fitness, Gary completed a half-marathon distance on a rowing machine, hours before he was admitted to Castle Hill Hospital in Cottingham for surgery. "It was major surgery, I was in there for five hours and had 54 stitches," he said.

"I then had to go for 12 weeks of chemotherapy, and I was pretty much smashing it for the first half. I was continuing to exercise, maybe walking six or seven miles a day.

"But by the half-way point, it was starting to get to me, I was tired and felt ill and couldn't keep the activity up. But as a former serviceman, I wasn't going to let it beat me; I was determined to stick it out and focus on getting myself well for my family and to take part in upcoming Remembrance Day events."

Gary served as a sonar operator in the Operations Branch of the Royal Navy between 1979 and 1987, which included service in the Falklands War of 1982. "I never used to go to reunions, but now I've started to go, and when I'm there I tell my colleagues just how lucky I've been.

Mark Hughes, clinical director for the Humber and Yorkshire Coast Bowel Cancer Screening Programme, third left, with members of the Humber Bowel Screening Team (Image: hey.nhs.uk)

"Getting that letter through the post inviting me for the scope was like winning the lottery; I feel like I've been given a second chance at life. What were the chances of getting the letter when I did, catching the cancer at the stage it was, and still being here to enjoy semi-retirement with my wife and family?

"My surgeon, Mr Armitage, and all the staff at Castle Hill Hospital were fantastic. I really have been blessed." In the Humber area, FIT test kits are now sent out automatically to people aged between 56 and 74, and this is set to reduce further to age 50 in the next few years.

Gary said: "If you're asked to take part in screening, get over the embarrassment and just do it. I thought I was fit and healthy, I had no symptoms at all when I had my test, but bowel screening saved my life. If I can help to save just one other person by telling my story, it will be worth it."

Mark Hughes, clinical director for the Humber and Yorkshire Coast Bowel Cancer Screening Programme, said: "Bowel cancer is one of the most common cancers in the UK, accounting for more than one in every ten new diagnoses. The good news is that if it's caught early, it's highly treatable and has good long-term survival rates. That's why it's important for people to take up screening opportunities when they're invited.

"Some 12,100 people across East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire are invited to complete the FIT test every month. We have a great uptake rate compared to many other regions across the country at 70 per cent, but we'd still like this to be higher as more than 3,600 people every month are missing out on potentially life-changing or even life-saving screening.

"While bowel cancer is more common in the over 60s, Gary's story shows that younger people can still be affected, so if you're experiencing any of the symptoms which could indicate a problem for more than three weeks, don't ignore them; seek help from your GP straight away."

Signs and symptoms most commonly associated with bowel cancer include:

For more information on bowel cancer, visit the NHS website.

Read next:

< Back to 68k.news UK front page