Michael Turner, Cheshire
Since sharing his story with us, Michael has sadly passed away. His family's wishes was for his story to still be told.
I was diagnosed with bowel cancer on 23rd January 2025.
I'm Michael and my partner is Lucy. We have three children, Abigail who is 20, Esme who is seven and Hollie who’s five.
My symptoms started around September 2024. I was extremely constipated and tried to use the toilet more than 20 times a day with not much luck. I got some laxatives and experienced a horrific pain sat on the toilet. I lost a cup full of blood. Feeling very tired, I slept, but the next morning my partner took me to A&E. After sitting there for five or more hours I was given an internal examination and told it was probably piles. I was given buscopan and we left. Lucy was extremely concerned and stressed my symptoms: the blood loss, diarrhoea then constipation and passing a jelly-like mucus.
In the next few days, I was no better and Lucy contacted the doctor once more. I’m confident in saying we visited the doctor or had an online consultation around 10 times, including blood tests and faecal tests. My calprotectin came back very high and my GP referred me to the gastro team for IBS. I can still hear the doctor saying he didn’t think it was anything sinister. We fought many times to be heard and Lucy told me to go private for a colonoscopy. The last doctor I spoke to called me — he was a different doctor to the previous one. Thankfully he heard us and he booked me on to the two-week pathway for a colonoscopy.
On 6 December 2024, I had a CT scan and never got told any results. On 17 December I had my first colonoscopy. They found a suspicious mass 20cm inside me in my sigmoid. They took eight biopsies, but the technician was certain this was cancer. Time stopped. On 31 December we were told the results were inconclusive, so we were relieved and thought the mass must be benign. The doctors wanted to be certain and got me in for a sigmoidoscopy and took 16 biopsies, which confirmed that it was cancer after all. It was at this moment on 23 January 2025 that we were told it was stage 2 bowel cancer.
On 28 January 2025 I had a bowel resection. Afterwards, I had the same problems. I was unable to pass stools and I started feeling severely unwell. Lucy took me to my surgeon who took us to A&E. She said she wasn’t concerned... She should've been as I had an anastomotic leak and sepsis. I was in hospital for two weeks after I had emergency surgery and a temporary stoma. It was a bad time. I hadn’t passed stools or eaten for a couple of weeks in total. I was on Total Parenteral Nutrition (TPN) and had a nasogastric tube as both my small and large bowel were blocked and went into a state of ileus.
On 26 February I was called in and was told after histology that it was stage 3C bowel cancer. It had spread to 15 out of 41 lymph nodes which had been removed. I had six months of chemotherapy. Just before my last round my CEA levels started to rise, which was very worrying. I had a CT scan and was told the cancer was back! How? I hadn't even finished my chemo. We were heartbroken beyond belief.
On 20 October, we were told there were lesions on my peritoneum and cancer was also back in my bowel. I had a PET scan for more clarification and was booked in for a colonoscopy through my stoma and up my bum: a double whammy! I'd been suffering excruciating pains lying and sitting. Cancer was found in my rectum. We've been told two conflicting opinions on whether this is eligible for surgery. My cancer is now stage 4 and I’m on palliative chemotherapy. We hope that this works as our last chemo essentially didn’t. We're exploring private options, as time doesn't wait for anyone and neither does cancer. What we do have though is rebellious hope!
Lucy and my daughter Esme ran a charity mud run in aid of Bowel Cancer UK. Lucy is very proactive in raising awareness and hopes that things improve regarding diagnosing cancer in people under 40. We were ‘too young for cancer’ and we know that cancer doesn't care about age!
Lucy followed Dame Deborah James’s journey and knew a young mum who heartbreakingly died from stage 4 bowel cancer at 31. She is involved in a lot of online groups and forums. As a man, I wasn't fully aware of symptoms, especially blood. I put this down to my diet as I loved spicy food and was often using the toilet multiple times a day for the last few years before it came to a head.
Lucy has shared many posts hoping to get the word out there about checking your poo. Any changes in bowel habits must be taken seriously. Don't let someone else make the decision for you! You know your own body, and if you feel anything is wrong, shout loudly.
Sadly Michael died in January 2026. His wife Lucy wrote: Our life since we lost Mike has been so hard. He never let cancer define him so I won't let it define us. We remember the happy times and each day we all remember one thing Daddy did that made us laugh. People tell me to be strong for my girls but their strength is what helps me navigate through this, I tell them they are strong like their Daddy and he will forever live on through us.
