‘I started falling apart after I turned 50’

I must say that up to about age 50 my only major health concern was a ruptured disc in my 30s. Despite being overweight, my annual blood tests would come back with excellent cholesterol and no signs of diabetes, making it clear that while I wouldn’t be running a marathon anytime soon, on the whole I was fit and healthy.

At 45, I left a government job and started a business. That business grew and mutated and by the time I was 50, I had staff and that meant stress, though I was still handling things with no real worries. Then suddenly, it seemed like visits to the doctor were becoming a regular thing: muscle worries here, swine flu, my 20/20 vision fell away so now I wear glasses all the time, high blood pressure. Still there was nothing major.

Then about a year ago I went to a new doctor; we did a blood test to get the records up to date and we found my iron was seriously low. As I donate blood every three months I actually told him I was sure that must be a mistake as my last donation (which is a good quick health check as well as a lovely thing to do) had no issue. Time for the ‘poo test’. I always do the regular faecal tests for older people — it is so easy and why oh why would you throw away a kit that could save your life? Mine wasn’t due for five months but when we did it the doctor called me in from work as two out of three samples were positive. I was amazed. Two tests showing I had a health issue, yet I was not at all unwell in myself.

We scheduled a colonoscopy and I got in eight weeks later under public health. I admit to being a little nervous — everyone tells you about the horrible drink you have to get through to clear out the system, and they were not lying. I came pretty close to vomiting more than once! Leading up to my hospital admission for the day procedure I was on the toilet every 5-10 minutes, but nothing to worry about; the truth is if you follow the diet instructions you should have few if any problems.

The admission and procedure itself were very straightforward. Questions, change into a flappy gown, start counting to 10 and next thing you know you are in recovery awaiting results. When I told my work clients what was going on it seemed like I was the only person over age 40 that had not been in to have a colonoscopy, and maybe a polyp or two removed so I wasn’t too worried.

The surgeon changed that with a full colour photo of some nasty lumpy masses in my bowel that needed to be removed, but would require a longer session — like three times as long a usual. Well, there’s not much you can do but let them do their job. Six weeks later, I underwent the same process, but this time they kept me in hospital overnight because it was ‘bigger than we expected’ but we think it all came out.

At about 9pm I was provided with a sandwich and a cup of tea — my first food in at least 30 hours. It was a restless night but they took care of me well, provided more sandwiches on request and I left the next day very tired but in a positive frame of mind. I have to go back in six weeks to have an inspection colonoscopy. I’m taking a toothbrush and comb with me this time — I had not been prepared to stay over!

If anyone is facing their first one maybe this may help you face that unknown. If you are not getting your blood tested annually and/or doing your faecal kit — trust me, you should do it! It may seem a bit icky, but such a simple way to find a near invisible potentially life-threatening problem.

Have you ever been surprised by some test results? Do you get your blood and faeces checked regularly?

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