In 2016 my nanna passed away from Bowel Cancer. She was 93. Having lived a full life, she became ill on the Thursday, was admitted to hospital on Tuesday and sadly passed away on the Friday. We were devastated as a family as she was our matriarch, our much loved inspirational woman who had lived through WWII as a farm girl meeting my Grandfather in her early 20’s. She didn’t have children until her mid 20’s which was quite old back then – I followed in her footsteps having my own children later in life.
Attending her funeral was amongst the hardest things I have ever had to do. I was thankful in the knowledge that she had lived a good life and had remained completely independent in her later years with her garden cat and church work.
It was a month after her passing that I decided that it was time.
Time for a check, the full ‘Monty’ as they say. A complete warrant of fitness. I was worried. Being in my 40’s and with children still at school, making sure I was healthy suddenly became more important.
A visit to my GP with blood tests and a poop test resulted in the all clear which was great, but it got me to thinking that it took my grandmother passing away for me to consider seriously the need for checking my poop and being a little braver than I had previously been in terms of being checked.
Bowel Cancer is a killer however from what I read and learnt since the passing of my nanna, it doesn’t need to be. Bowel Cancer Awareness Month goes some way into providing a focus and information as well as support for all of us regardless of age.
I know my Nanna lived a long life filled and I want to do the same!
For more on Bowel Cancer Awareness Month this is a great resource page here to find out more about https://www.bowelcanceraustralia.org/awareness
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