Shaun McKeown, Cumbria

I was diagnosed with stage 3 bowel cancer in March 2022, at the age of 47.

Towards the beginning of 2022, I noticed a change in my bowel movements and the odd spot of blood. I had been losing weight slightly, but I ride a motorbike as a Police Officer and had recently jolted my neck while on my bike. I’d taken up running to help with the injury and at first I thought the weight loss was just down to that. I had no other symptoms but something just clicked in my mind that things weren’t right.

I had a telephone appointment with my GP and she was great. It may sound daft, but I found it a lot less embarrassing to discuss the issues I’d been having over the phone rather than in person. My GP brought me in for bloods and stool samples. Both the blood results and two out of the three stool checks were fine. However, she found some blood in the third sample and that’s why she sent me for a colonoscopy.

Two weeks later during the colonoscopy, I was diagnosed with bowel cancer. The tumour was clear to see on the screen, so I knew there and then.

I had an anterior resection on the 5 May 2022. That has healed really well and I was back to work on light duties after six weeks. My employers have been absolutely great, giving me all the support that I needed. I was back up to walking five to ten kilometres a day after a few weeks. I had 12 lymph nodes removed in the operation but thankfully they were all clear.

I’ve just started chemo as they found some cells in some fatty tissue around the colon where the tumour was. I’m having a three-month course which involves being given Oxaliplatin on day one via an IV drip, then two weeks of Capecitabine pills each day.

I actually caught Covid about six weeks post-surgery. Luckily, all I had was a very mild cough and cold but I’m so glad I got it out the way before chemotherapy commenced.

So far, everything looks good for me and we think we’ve caught everything early. My focus now is on getting fit again. The diagnosis made me motivated to beat the cancer and now I plan to raise money for Bowel Cancer UK to help others going through the same experience. I’ve found the charity’s website very helpful for finding out all the information I needed, which is why I want to share my story now.