Something is wrong.

It was when we visited Latvia in May 2016 that I first noticed that I was going to the loo more often, and that I was retaining wind and thus feeling more bloated than usual. As most people do, I put it down to either a mild stomach upset or the effects of travelling and change in diet and habits. On returning home things seemed to return to normal, and like most males I tended to move on and ignore these changes.

It was when we travelled again in the Autumn, first for a weekend in Kent and then for a week in Dumfries to share a cottage with my daughter’s family, that the feelings of being bloated returned. I also found myself going more frequently for a poo, and often feeling that the job was incomplete.

Like most men in their 70s, I also needed to pee more frequently, and the peeing and pooing seemed to be related in that I found it easier to do one after completing the other. I just put this down to part of the aging process.

By December thing were gradually getting worst and I was going to the loo 3 or 4 times a day. I began to become aware that something was wrong.

On the weekend before Christmas, Masha and I went on a rock and roll break at Torquay. Throughout the 2 nights stay I felt bloated and generally under the weather. It was then that I decided to contact my GP, Dr Spring.

When I phoned the surgery on Monday morning the receptionist told me that Dr Spring was fully booked for the week and that he was then away for 2 weeks over Christmas. She offered me an appointment on Fri 6th Jan, but said that I could see a locum lady Dr on the coming Thursday 22^nd Dec. I decided to leave it and see Dr Spring in the New Year, but when I put the phone down, Masha was insistent that I took the earlier appointment. I phoned back and arranged for the Thursday booking. Wonderful things women!

At the appointment with the lady Dr, I immediately sensed her concern once I had explained my symptoms. She examined my rear end and said that my prostate was enlarged. She then told me that she would fast track me for appointments for both the gastric and the urinary consultants. She also asked me to have a blood test to measure my PSA level, which I arranged for the following day. This came as a bit of a shock, but I still held onto the hope that my enlarged prostate was pressing on my bowels and the problem was not that serious.

On the lighter side, when I told the Dr that I had put the changes down to my age, she was adamant that age is not the reason for bodily changes. Later in the appointment she asked about my alcohol intake. I told her that I drink roughly the same amount as I always have. She sternly replied that the body cannot take the same alcoholic intake as we age. Not quite consistent there perhaps!

Christmas day was on a Sunday, so the Monday and Tuesday were both Bank holidays. On the Thursday and Friday of that week I received 3 appointments in the post. The first was at Poole hospital to see Mr Ahmad the bowel specialist on Thu 5th Jan. I also had appointments for a pee-flow test on Wed 18^th and to see the urinary specialist on Tue 24^th Jan. Both were at Bournemouth. This was all a very impressive response especially since Christmas had come since seeing the Dr just a week before.

An appointment with a specialist is bound to lead to a degree of trepidation, however stoic you try to be. On arriving at the hospital on the 5^th, my anxieties were not helped when I was told that Mr Ahmad had been delayed and that they were unsure of his arrival time. In the event, he arrived only a half an hour later, and I saw him about 20min after that.

Mr Ahmad was a charming man of Nigerian origin. After the round of usual questions about bowel movements and eating habits, he examined my lower stomach, and my rear end. it was during this examination that I sensed that something serious was wrong. The Dr remained positive throughout, but there was just something about his manner that made me suspect that he had detected something untoward. He explained that I would need to go for a sigmoidoscopy examination. This involves an examination of the rectum via a camera up the rear end. I was told that this would happen within 2 weeks, but in fact I received a letter the next day for an appointment on 11^th Jan, just 6 days later.

With hindsight, I suppose I had known that I had a problem for weeks or even months, but we all tend to look on the bright side. I had always been fit and healthy, and just assumed that that situation would continue. I now began to think more about by friends and colleagues who had died over the years, and for the first time I started to look at websites about bowel cancer. Initially I was reassured; I hadn’t had blood in my stools, and none of the main risk factors applied to me. I had not smoked for 45 years, I was below average weight, and I had eaten healthily for many years. OK, I exceeded the recommended alcohol limit, but that wasn’t even listed as a most likely cause.