"Bowel cancer."

I always take part in the bowel screening process and adhere to good practice by checking for blood every so often.

I realised one day that there was blood. It was bright red and on the surface rather than in the stool and appeared to be mostly at the leading are of the movement.

The bleeding quickly became persistent and the quantity quite pronounced.

The Doctor examined me. There were no internal hemorrhoid's to account for the amount of blood.

A stool sample was requested and supplied within 24hrs. Within a matter of days I was contacted to come in for a colonoscopy under the pretext that they had a "cancellation" Nice try but it didn't work; but the gentle approach was appreciated.Within 24 hrs I had the procedure and a ruptured polyp was removed for autopsy.

( Still have images of this little thing lying  on a big steel table getting the NCIS treatment)

Throughout there was obvious anxiety within me and my wife. However the prompt and caring treatment of the NHS as an organisation and particularly of all the staff helped minimise it and bring the whole sorry event to a quick and wholly satisfying conclusion. I was told at the time the bowel was clear. The blood results came through shortly after and a call from my Local GP, Dr Hay confirmed the results as good. I didn't even have to wait the whole three to four weeks for the final result of the autopsy. It came in within 7 working days.

I can not fault the care and efficiency, not to mention the skill of the procedure team Lead by Mr Amin and his two assistant nurses, of the whole team at the Queen Margaret Colonoscopy department Dunfermline Fife. If there was something to add I would suggest a "What to expect next" note for the patient be added to the post procedure information. Example of content, Residual laxative, irritated anus and what to do about it and slight leaking of residual fluid for a while due to the muscle being a little stretched especially in older people.