A man who lost his wife at 45 to bowel cancer has stated that Wales needs to move quickly to lower the age of screening.
Eluned Morgan, Health Minister, stated that the age of 60 had been reduced to 58 and would drop to 50 in 2024 despite Covid slowing down.
A 33-year-old woman was diagnosed with bowel cancer. She said that doctors often fail to recognize that younger patients could also have it.
Public Health Wales (PHW), stated that 13.8% of people diagnosed in 2019 were below 58.
Last month, Dame Deborah James, a podcast host and campaigner, died from stage three bowel cancer. She was 35 years old when she was diagnosed in December 2016.
Her death sparked debate about bowel cancer in younger adults and who should be screened.
Nick Phillips, 64, Pontypridd in Rhondda Cynon Taf lost Marcia to bowel cancer sixteen years ago when she was only 45.
Since then, he has been advocating for the expansion of the screening program and stated that he had seen successive promises made by health ministers go unfulfilled.
He said, "They keep on promising, promising to, and they have never delivered on the promises."
"It must be done faster, there have been so many excuses over the years, and I've seen them all."
Ms Morgan, Wales' Health Minister, said that Wales had a "very clear plan".
"We tried to roll out faster, but the pandemic has gotten in our way," she stated. She added: "We will reach 50 years old by 2024."
She stated that the expansion of the program must be done in conjunction with an increase in endoscopy capabilities.
She said, "That's something you cannot switch on overnight."
Guto Roberts, a 40-year-old from Y Felinheli, Gwynedd, was diagnosed with bowel carcinoma in November 2020.
After a successful operation, he was then treated with chemotherapy. He is now free from cancer.
When asked about his plan to lower the screening age from 50 to 50, he replied: "It's an important step in the right direction, but I believe they should start screening people at 40."
He said, "Symptoms can be mild to severe until it's too late... so they should start screening at 40. Many lives could be saved."
Bowel Cancer UK stated that it has been campaigning for the Welsh government's commitment to lower the screening age from 50 to 50 in accordance with recommendations of the UK National Screening Committee and international best practices for many years.
Genevieve Edwards, the Chief Executive of the organization, stated that although bowel cancer is more common among people over 50 than it is in younger people, it can also affect people of any age.
She stated that the disease is being diagnosed in more people than ever before, including those under 50.
"Despite this, awareness is still low that it can impact younger people."
Rachel Reed, a South Wales woman, was diagnosed with bowel carcinoma at the age of 33.
Her first visit to her GP was because she had persistent abdominal pain, felt tired, and felt a sudden urge to go to the bathroom. She also experienced pain and diarrhoea following a gluten- or dairy-rich diet.
"Everytime I went to the GP, I was told that there wasn't anything to be worried about," she stated.
"I was told that I was too young to do anything serious."
She wasn't concerned that she might have bowel carcinoma. "My only knowledge of symptoms of bowel cancer was blood in my stool," she stated.
She was admitted to hospital in April 2018 and May 2018. Doctors diagnosed her with an ovarian tumor. Although she had a CT, MRI, and ultrasound scans, nothing else was discovered.
After questioning if her psoriasis medication might be to blame, she said that her symptoms began 18 months ago.
The colonoscopy was performed.
She said, "I could see the tumor on the screen."
Two weeks later, a biopsy was performed and she was diagnosed with bowel cancer.
She recalled, "I was in shock."
The cancer had spread beyond the bowel, and the ovarian cyst found a few months before was also part of this spread.
She had the tumor removed in two weeks.
"I was in the hospital and I recall crying to my consultant saying, "I don't want to die ."
"In your head you plan your funeral."
"All you can really do is keep pushing and keeping going, because there's no other option."
Two sections of her bowel were removed. A stent was placed in her bladder. She was then fitted with a catheter and had a hysterectomy. This ended her plans to have children.
Six months of chemotherapy were followed. In September 2019, however, a small lesion in her lung was discovered. She underwent another operation, and she endured three months of intense chemotherapy.
Rachel is 37 years old and doctors have not found any evidence of cancer in her since April 2020.
She was not critical of NHS despite the long road she had to get there. She said that they were quick and she will always be grateful to them for saving her life.
Rachel has experienced a lot from the experience of being diagnosed as having bowel cancer.
"You can't get rid off this trauma.
She stated that raising awareness about cancer among young people was a great help.
"Because of my age, I was diagnosed stage four. There are loads and loads patients my age who are stage four. They have life-changing surgery. Our age prevents us from getting the checks we need.
She said, "Even now when I see healthcare professionals they say that you're a very rare case, and you're too young to get bowel cancer."
She would like to see screening age lowered, but she believes screening alone is not the solution.
She advised younger patients with symptoms to consult their GP and download Bowel Cancer UK’s symptom diary.
She stated that she wanted healthcare professionals to first rule out cancer and then consider other options.
Anyone in England between 60 and 74 years old who is registered with a GP receives an NHS bowel cancer screening kit once every two years.
Screening begins in Scotland at the age 50.
Wales residents are invited to participate in bowel cancer screenings every two years, between the ages 58 and 74.
According to PHW, 2,513 people were diagnosed in 2019 with bowel cancer.
PHW reported that 13.8% of people diagnosed in 2019 were younger than 58 - approximately one in seven of all diagnoses.
According to PHW, more than 190,000.00 people in Wales took a bowel screening test through Bowel Screening Wales every year.
This kit can be used at home to determine how much blood there is in your poo.
The 2019 tests were performed using a faecal immune chemical testing (FIT) kit. This allows for more detection of bowel cancers than any previous test.
Although the screening test doesn't tell you if you have bowel cancer or not, it will let your know if you need to have further tests like a colonoscopy.
